Papers by Barbara Politynska
Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology, Aug 1, 1988
Seventy-eight subjects suffering from idiopathic Parkinson's disease were studied in 2 separate g... more Seventy-eight subjects suffering from idiopathic Parkinson's disease were studied in 2 separate groups to test the hypothesis that benzhexol affects memory. In study A, 54 subjects were tested by means of a free recall technique; in study B, 24 subjects were given a signal detection memory task. Both studies yielded significant correlations between memory impairment and dosage levels of benzhexol. No correlation was found between memory status and dosage of levodopa, duration of illness or Hamilton depression scores. The implications of these findings are discussed.
Cancer and Metastasis Reviews, Jul 8, 2021
The treatment of cancer patients with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) (anti-CTLA-4, anti-PD-1,... more The treatment of cancer patients with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) (anti-CTLA-4, anti-PD-1, anti-PD-L1, combined therapy anti-PD-1/PD-L1 with anti-CTLA-4) has without doubt been a significant breakthrough in the field of oncology in recent years and constitutes a major step forward as a novel type of immunotherapy in the treatment of cancer. ICIs have contributed to a significant improvement in the outcome of treatment and prognosis of patients with different types of malignancy. With the expansion of the use of ICIs, it is expected that caregivers will face new challenges, namely, they will have to manage the adverse side effects associated with the use of these drugs. New treatment options pose new challenges not only for oncologists but also for specialists in other clinical fields, including general practitioners (GPs). They also endorse the need for taking a holistic approach to the patient, which is a principle widely recognized in oncology and especially relevant in the case of the expanding use of ICIs, which may give rise to a wide variety of organ complications resulting from treatment. Knowledge and awareness of the spectrum of immune-related adverse events (irAEs) will allow doctors to qualify patients for treatment more appropriately, prevent complications, correctly recognize, and ultimately treat them. Additionally, patients with more non-specific symptoms would be expected, in the first instance, to consult their general practitioners, as complications may appear even after the termination of treatment and do not always proceed in line with disease progression. Dealing with any iatrogenic complications, will not only be the remit of oncologists but because of the likelihood that specific organs may be affected, is likely to extend also to specialists in various fields of internal medicine. These specialists, e.g., endocrinologists, dermatologists, pulmonologists, and gastroenterologists, are likely to receive referrals for patients suffering from specific types of adverse events or will be asked to provide care in cases requiring hospitalization of patients with complications in their field of expertise. In view of these considerations, we believe that there is an urgent need for multidisciplinary teamwork in the treatment of cancer patients undergoing immunotherapy and suffering the consequent adverse reactions to treatment. Marek Z. Wojtukiewicz and Magdalena M. Rek contributed equally to this work.
Progress in Health Sciences, 2015
To assess the physical and psychosocial situation and needs of Polish patients with Hodgkin lymph... more To assess the physical and psychosocial situation and needs of Polish patients with Hodgkin lymphoma (HL), who had undergone radical chemoradiotherapy. Materials and methods: 50 Hodgkin lymphoma patients were asked to complete an institutiondeveloped questionnaire concerning their physical, emotional and social well-being, as well as their perceptions regarding the medical care they had received. Results: The physical and psychosocial quality of life of patients with HL was diminished by the disease and its treatment. The most frequently reported side effects of both chemo-and radiotherapy were fatigue and loss of taste. The observed symptoms were slight or moderate. Although 36% of participants reported feelings of depression and 52%-were concerned about their future functioning in society, more than half of patients reported that were happy (60%). 20% of respondents were unable to work at all, but more than half had some difficulties with their employment. 20-40% of the patients complained about having received insufficient dietary instructions and lack of information about the late adverse effects of treatment. Although the majority of respondents assessed the quality of medical care as very high emotional problems preferred to share with relatives (90%). Conclusions: Although the physical and psychosocial situation of HL patients may be affected by the disease and its treatment, for the majority of patients, these impediments did not cause serious deterioration in functioning. Medical care was positively assessed by the HL patients, but more emotional and informative support is needed to decrease patients' anxiety regarding future functioning in society.
PubMed, Jul 10, 1999
The authors present a case of lipoma of corpus callosum in a 25-years old patient. The results of... more The authors present a case of lipoma of corpus callosum in a 25-years old patient. The results of psychological testing, plain skull X-ray. EEG investigation, images of CT, MRI of the brain and right carotid angiography are presented. The patient refused surgical treatment. His neurological state after discharge from hospital was good.
PubMed, 1991
A group of 41 patients were followed up 7 years after ligation of the common carotid artery. Post... more A group of 41 patients were followed up 7 years after ligation of the common carotid artery. Postoperative complications were found in 29% of cases. Raised arterial blood pressure was noted in 66% of cases, psychoneurological abnormalities in one-third of the group.
PubMed, 1999
Neuropsychological deficits following closed head injury are responsible for a significant part o... more Neuropsychological deficits following closed head injury are responsible for a significant part of the post-traumatic syndrome. Nonetheless such deficits frequently elude standard neurological examination and head injured subjects are not recognised as suffering from any impairments, despite these having a significant effect on their ability to return to work. As a result, subjects are refused disability status, resulting in a large number of litigation appeals. The criteria for determining disability status after head injury are often inadequate, as they do not take into account the post-traumatic syndrome, and medical experts, if they are sensitive to these issues are left in a quandary as to how to justify their decisions before the courts. Equally, psychological assessment, where it is included, is frequently limited to the examination of intellectual functions and memory, which are not always grossly disturbed in these cases. It is recommended that neuropsychological assessments should form part of routine practice in the evaluation of outcome in closed head injury and the test instruments be of adequate sensitivity to measure the deficits occurring after head injury. However, it is necessary to bear in mind that these subjective symptoms, which in reality hamper subjects' ability to return to work, may be the result of disruption of fine cognitive functions, which are inaccessible to currently available test methods.
Oncology in Clinical Practice, Feb 28, 2022
The aim of this article is to present possible ways of developing quality indicators in oncologic... more The aim of this article is to present possible ways of developing quality indicators in oncological care in the Polish healthcare system based on practice from other countries. The development of indicators in the healthcare systems presented in this paper is a process following several stages. Initially, at the planning stage, the clinical area to be assessed is selected and teams responsible for developing the indicators are organized. This is followed by the development stage in which the measurement team prioritizes and selects clinical indicators on the basis of documentation and knowledge gained from the scientific literature. After selecting the target clinical indicators, the specifications for each measure are operationalized, along with inclusion and exclusion criteria for the target population, and data sources are identified. In each of the foreign healthcare systems analyzed, determination of the final indicators was preceded by extensive clinical and social consultations. The use of clinical indicators to assess quality is an important approach in the process of assessing the quality of cancer care. Thanks to the introduction of quality indicators, participants in the healthcare system (regulators, clinicians, patients, managers of medical institutions) can obtain reliable information that is necessary for defining priorities, modifying methods of determining benefits, benchmarking, making informed choices, and improving the quality of oncological care.
PubMed, Mar 26, 1998
About 35% of subjects with head injury (HI) suffer from postconcussion syndrome (PCS). These dist... more About 35% of subjects with head injury (HI) suffer from postconcussion syndrome (PCS). These disturbances can be chronic or even permanent. Such patients are discharged from hospital without any apparent problems, but it is often the case that their families, and sometimes even they themselves, start to notice the emergence of new problems. They may exhibit affective changes, such as thinking that they are worthless, alone and without any future perspectives. When they are left without the help of specialists and/or family and friends, their problems gain even greater significance. PCS includes subjective physical complaints (i.e. headache, dizziness) and cognitive, emotional and behavioral changes. PCS influences all areas of the patient's life. Subjects who have sustained head injury often have problems with marital relationships, maintaining of independence, employment, leisure activities and other functions which are related to social adjustment. Various studies have attempted to predict the post-injury status of HI patients from information available, such as data on the severity of head injury, the duration of post-traumatic amnesia (PTA) and the results of neuropsychological assessment. This kind of prediction is important in planning of rehabilitation services and thus improving the kind of help available to survivors of HI. Early prediction of post-injury psychological status may also help the patient and his family in coping with the difficulties related to the trauma. We know a great deal about head injury and its consequences, but many questions still need to be answered. Among these are issues such as: the role of neurobehavioral data in the prediction of outcome for HI patients, the identification of variables determining the extent of PCS and the search for reliable factors which may influence future employment or school status. The assessment of patients for invalidity and other social security benefits also requires a more rational approach, based on the data available.
Acta Neurologica Scandinavica, Oct 1, 1987
Seventy-eight subjects suffering from idiopathic Parkinson's disease were studied in 2 separate g... more Seventy-eight subjects suffering from idiopathic Parkinson's disease were studied in 2 separate groups to test the hypothesis that benzhexol affects memory. In study A, 54 subjects were tested by means of a free recall technique; in study B, 24 subjects were given a signal detection memory task. Both studies yielded significant correlations between memory impairment and dosage levels of benzhexol. No correlation was found between memory status and dosage of levodopa, duration of illness or Hamilton depression scores. The implications of these findings are discussed.
Acta Poloniae Pharmaceutica, Nov 21, 2022
Carbon monoxide (CO), despite its reputation as a deadly poison, is being recognized as a powerfu... more Carbon monoxide (CO), despite its reputation as a deadly poison, is being recognized as a powerful physiological regulatory agent with potential anti-cancer properties. To harness the potential of CO for a safe therapy, CO-Releasing Molecules (CO-RMs) have been developed. In the present study, the effects of tricarbonyldichlororuthenium(II) dimer (CORM-2) on MCF-7 breast cancer cell cultures were evaluated, with particular regard to mechanisms affecting collagen biosynthesis. In our model, CORM-2 exerted dose-dependent cytotoxic and antiproliferative effects, i.e., attenuated cell viability, induced apoptosis, and reduced autophagy. Collagen biosynthesis was significantly reduced, with signs of the involvement of nuclear factor kappa B, integrin β1, insulin-like growth factor 1, and proline metabolism as the probable underlying mechanism. No effects of CO-depleted CORM-2 were found, thereby demonstrating that CORM-2 activity is associated with carbon monoxide. Additionally, it was found that CORM-2 had no influence on control fibroblast cultures. Our results confirm both the cytotoxic and collagen-related properties of CO-releasing molecules in a breast cancer cell culture and therefore serve to encourage further research in a pre-clinical setting. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to attempt to relate the effects of CORM-2 on cell viability and collagen metabolism in a cancer cell culture.
Gerontology & Geriatrics Education, 2012
Cancers, Apr 17, 2022
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY
British Journal of Psychiatry, Jun 1, 1995
Background. The studytested thehypothesis thatsubjects withParkinson's disease (PD) have more aut... more Background. The studytested thehypothesis thatsubjects withParkinson's disease (PD) have more autonomic complaints and more attenuation of autonomic reflexes than controls, and thatbothclusters ofvariables arerelated tothepresence ofanxiety and depression. Method. Thirty-two subjects and 32 healthy controls matched by age and sex were prospectively comparedon psychiatric, cognitive and autonomictests. Results. ‘¿ Autonomic' symptoms:weremorefrequent inPD patients thaninhealthy controls; were not related to age or changes in autonomic reflexes; were significantly associated with depression andanxiety (medication was notrelevant totheassociation); anddidnotcorrelate with motor symptoms. Conclusions. The diagnosis of anxiety and depression in some PD subjects is likely to be a behavioural phenocopy caused by autonomic failure. This explains why antidepressant medication is often unhelpful in PD subjects diagnosed as depressed. Morel (1866) first suggested that anxiety and depression may be related to dysfunction of the ‘¿ ganglionar system'. ‘¿ Dysautonomia' has since been described as being accompanied by â€oe¿ emotional outbursts, agitation, insomnia, depression― (Pearson, 1979). Also, vegetative symptoms correlate with panic attacks in Parkinson's disease (PD) (Vasquez et a!, 1993). However, the nature of the relationship between PD and autonomic failure remains unclear. Oppenheimer (1988) proposed that striatomgral degeneration and olivopontocerebellar atrophy were, in fact, different manifestations of multiple system atrophy (MSA), and reported that about 76% of patients with MSA developed Parkinsomsm. In partial confirmation, a post-mortem study has shown that 24°lo of clinically diagnosed PD subjects are, in fact, suffering from MSA, progressive supranuclear palsy, or Alzheimer's disease (Hughes et a!, 1992). Clinical ascertainment is complicated by the fact that MSA â€oe¿ may present with rapidly progressive Parkinsonism without cerebellar or autonomic disturbance―(Lancet, 1992). Goetz eta! (1986) have reported differences between 32 PD subjects and 10 (unmatched) controls in terms of Valsalva response, supine pulse rate, and postural hypotension, but did not seek to correlate these changes with psychiatric status. Depression is often diagnosed in PD (Starkstein eta!,1990), but thehypothesis thatin some cases it may be a behavioural phenocopy, caused by autonomic failure, has not yet been tested (Berrios & Samuel, 1987). The present studysetout:(a)to compare PD subjects and matched healthy controls on vegetative symptoms and status of autonomic reflexes; and (b)toidentify significant associations between autonomic dysfunction and anxiety and depression. Method Thirty-two subjects with PD and 32 age-matched (±2 years) and sex-matched healthy controls were prospectively studied. The PD patients were randomly selected from the database of the University of Cambridge Department of Psychiatry Parkinson's Disease Project. To be entered into this study, patients were diagnosed both by a consultant neurologist and using standard diagnostic criteria (Zetusky et a!, 1985); some were receiving medication for their PD. The control sample was chosen from the panel of healthy volunteers associated with the Cambridge Medical Research Council's Applied Psychology Unit. The research protocol included the following. General demographic and clinical data were obtainedfrom both samples.
International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, Mar 1, 1996
Abstract An investigation into the impact of caring for someone with Parkinson's disease is ... more Abstract An investigation into the impact of caring for someone with Parkinson's disease is described. Informal carers, in this case spouses, were found to have raised levels of psychological distress as indicated by a number of instruments. Levels of depression in ...
Cancers, May 2, 2020
Thrombosis is a more common occurrence in cancer patients compared to the general population and ... more Thrombosis is a more common occurrence in cancer patients compared to the general population and is one of the main causes of death in these patients. Low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) has been the recognized standard treatment for more than a decade, both in cancer-related thrombosis and in its prevention. Direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) are a new option for anticoagulation therapy. Recently published results of large randomized clinical trials have confirmed that DOAC may be a reasonable alternative to LMWH in cancer patients. The following review summarizes the current evidence on the safety and efficacy of DOAC in the treatment and prevention of cancer-related thrombosis. It also draws attention to the limitations of this group of drugs, knowledge of which will facilitate the selection of optimal therapy.
Progress in Health Sciences, Jun 11, 2019
_________________________________________________________________________________________ Communi... more _________________________________________________________________________________________ Communication difficulties in Parkinson's disease (PD) arise not only as the result of the motor symptoms of the disorder, but also as a consequence of cognitive and affective impairments which are recognised as being part of the disease process. These changes are thought to account for much of the stigma associated with the condition, thereby complicating the ability of patients to interrelate with others, including their closest family. This inevitably affects quality of life for both the patient and those family members involved in his/her care. The present paper presents an analysis of how the deficits in motor and cognitive function associated with PD in the form of reduced facial expressivity, altered language skills, motor and cognitive slowness and disturbances in the pragmatic aspects of language affect the communication abilities of patients with the disorder and give rise to stigmatisation, which in turn impacts the disability seen in PD.
European Journal of Ageing, Oct 16, 2020
The purpose of the study was to identify the different types of social support networks (SSNs) am... more The purpose of the study was to identify the different types of social support networks (SSNs) among community-dwelling people aged 75+ years in selected areas of Poland, and to evaluate any associations between the network type and demographic and health variables of the population studied. The two most prevalent SSN types identified using the Practitioner Assessment of Network Type were "family dependent" (35.8%) and "locally integrated" (32.2%). "Local self-contained" (6.4%), "wider community focused" (2.8%) and "private restricted" (5.6%) SSNs were observed less frequently. In 17.2% of cases, it was not possible to identify the type of network unequivocally. Older people with a locally integrated SSN, in contrast to the family dependent type, were generally younger, living alone, and less likely to be homebound, rate their health as poor, suffer from depression or dementia, and had lower levels of functional disability. Locally integrated SSNs are recognized in the literature as being the most robust in terms of facilitating well-being and providing sufficient support to help maintain the older person in the community. This may reflect the higher levels of independence of older people able to sustain these support networks, which are then transformed into family-dependent types as their health deteriorates, but confirmation of this would require prospective studies. An improved understanding of the prevalence of different types of social networks among older people in Poland would help to guide a systematic approach to recognizing unmet needs in this population and provide crucial information in the planning of formal services.
Pharmacology & Therapeutics, Dec 1, 2022
Cancer and Metastasis Reviews, Sep 1, 2022
Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), which comprises 10-20% of all breast malignancies, remains ... more Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), which comprises 10-20% of all breast malignancies, remains a subtype with the most dismal prognosis. TNBC cells, due to lack of estrogen (ER), progesterone (PR), and human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER-2) receptor expression, are insensitive to all known endocrine and anti-HER-2-targeted therapies. As a result, chemotherapy remains the standard of care for this subgroup of patients, in whom a high recurrence rate and poor overall survival are observed. The biology of TNBC is distinctive, not only in comparison to other breast cancers, but its natural course differs among individuals. This heterogeneity makes it even harder to define new therapeutic targets or predictive factors. Therefore, an urgent need to develop effective therapies exists, as only 20% of TNBC patients treated in a neoadjuvant and adjuvant setting achieve a pathological complete response (pCR), which is a strong surrogate marker for longer overall survival (OS). The remaining 80% are exposed to highly toxic treatment that causes a significant decrease in quality of life, while at the same time providing little clinical benefit. The efficacy of palliative chemotherapy is even more disappointing. Following the spread of the disease, most commonly to visceral organs or to the brain, the mean survival time is only 10.2 months [1]. Initially, the success of immunotherapy in treating malignancies exhibiting a pessimistic prognosis, such as malignant melanoma or lung cancer, raised hope for TNBC patients.
Pathology & Oncology Research, Mar 31, 2021
Brain gliomas are characterized by remarkably intense invasive growth and the ability to create n... more Brain gliomas are characterized by remarkably intense invasive growth and the ability to create new blood vessels. Angiogenesis is a key process in the progression of these tumors. Coagulation and fibrinolysis factors play a role in promoting angiogenesis. The aim of the study was to evaluate the expression of proangiogenic proteins (VEGF and bFGF) and hemostatic proteins (TF, fibrinogen, fibrin, D-dimers) associated with neoplastic cells and vascular endothelial cells in brain gliomas of various degrees of malignancy. Immunohistochemical tests were performed using the ABC method with the use of mono-and polyclonal antibodies. The obtained results indicated that both neoplastic cells and vascular endothelial cells in gliomas of various degrees of malignancy are characterized by heterogeneous expression of proteins of the hemostatic system and angiogenesis markers. The strongest expression of proangiogenic factors and procoagulant factors was demonstrated in gliomas of higher-grade malignancy.
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Papers by Barbara Politynska