Despite the achievements of modern medicine in the diagnosis and treatment of oncological diseases, skin melanoma remains one of the leading causes of death worldwide: every third case of melanoma ends in death. As you know, one of the main causes of death is the high incidence of melanoma progression. It is important to note that the mechanisms of melanoma progression are diverse and the rapidly developing area of drug therapy for tumors requires a deep understanding of their characteristics. This is primarily due to the fact that these processes lead to the formation of special, minor tumor clones with stem properties. They are highly resistant to therapy. The latter is the mainobstacle to effective treatment of melanoma patients. The epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) plays a leading role in the acquisition of metastatic potential by melanoma cells. An important distinguishing feature of EMT is a change in the level of expression of transmembrane glycoproteins involved in cell adhesion. With EMT, both a decrease in the level of E-cadherin and an increase in the expression of N-cadherin are observed. Such a switch in different classes of adhesion molecules leads to the fact that melanoma cells lose contact with neighboring keratinocytes and begin to interact with fibroblasts and endothelial cells. The key regulator in EMT induction in melanoma is the Notch1 signaling pathway, which accelerates N-cadherin expression when activated. In addition, EMT also regulates many other pathways – RAS/RAF/MEK/ERK, PI3K/AKT/mTOR, Wnt/β-catenin, the dysregulation of which is associated with the development of drug resistance in melanoma. The analysis was carried out in the article of modern literature data on the importance of EMT in carcinogenesis and prognosis of melanoma. The modern mechanisms of EMT, currently known prognostic factors, as well as potential therapeutic targets that affect EMT and, accordingly, inhibit the process of metastasis, are described in detail.

Surgical treatment of breast cancer (BC) has undergone significant changes over the past half century. Oncoplastic operations are a relatively new variant of organ-preserving surgical treatment of breast cancer. Its idea is to combine the principles of oncology and plastic surgery in order to obtain oncological safe and cosmetic acceptable results. Despite the widespread implementation of these operations, high-quality studies on the benefits of oncoplastic operations in comparison with other methods are not enough. Actual issues of breast cancer oncoplastic surgery was considered in this literature review, such as indications for surgery, classification of oncoplastic techniques, determination of positive resection margins, evaluation of recurrence and survival, postoperative complications, cosmetic result.The authors declare no conflict of interest.The authors confirm that they respect the rights of the people participated in the study, including obtaining informed consent when it is necessary, and the rules of treatment of animals when they are used in the study (Conclusion of the local Ethics Committee at Northern State Medical University of 08.04.2015, Protocol No. 02/4-15). Author Guidelines contains the detailed information.

РОЛЬ МЕТИЛИРОВАНИЯ 5 ГЕНОВ ИЗ РАЙОНА 3Р21.31 В ПАТОГЕНЕЗЕ МОЛЕКУЛЯРНЫХ ПОДТИПОВ РАКА МОЛОЧНОЙ ЖЕЛЕЗЫ *

Despite recent advances in targeted and immune therapy, 5‑year overall survival in stages III–IV of melanoma is 50 and 10–20 %, respectively. Modern melanoma biomarkers, which are used in clinical practice, are not sufficiently effective for early diagnosis and prognosis assessment. In the last decade, circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) have come to be regarded as “ideal” melanoma biomarkers. This article presents the characteristics of miRNA biogenesis, as well as provides a critical review of circulating miRNAs as promising diagnostic and prognostic melanoma biomarkers.

Currently, mammography is the main screening method for diagnosing breast cancer (BC); but the process of carcinogenesis begins long before the appearance of a visualized tumor. For successful early diagnosis of breast cancer, a systematic approach is required, that includes all stages of tumor development. On the example of BC we consider the possibilities of integrating the recent scientific achievements of oncogenetics and proteomics with standard methods. In this article we investigate the possibilities of using genetic research, serum cancer markers and radiation methods for early diagnosis of BC. This article also presents potential options for managing high-risk development of this disease.

The prevalence rate of Hodgkin’s lymphoma is the fourth among malignant neoplasms in women of the reproductive age, so the problem of the association of this disease with the pregnancy inevitably arises. The tactic of the management of the pregnancy and childbirth in such patients depends on the stage and time of the detection of the disease. This article presents a clinical observation of a patient whose pregnancy occurred in the fourth year of the sustained remission of stage IV lymphogranulomatosis and had a favorable outcome.

Breast cancer is the most common disease in women all over the world. In the structure of cancer morbidity, breast cancer ranks first and its frequency is steadily increasing. In the world, about 1.67 million new cases are diagnosed and every year more than 500,000 women die from breast cancer. Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is about 15–20 % of all breast tumors; is more common in women of fertile age. TNBC is characterized by a lack of expression of estrogen, progesterone receptors and HER-2/neu, which significantly complicates the treatment of this disease, which is characterized by aggressive course, the maximum risk of recurrence during the first 3 yearsafter surgical treatment, and rapid metastasis and decreased life expectancy. This article presents a review of the literature on the molecular-biological characteristics of TNBC. The article also describes the main approaches to targeted therapies for each subtype.

The methylation of CpG islands in the promoter regions of miRNA genes is an epigenetic modification that plays a decisive role in the breast cancer (BC) initiation and progression. The aim of the study was to investigate the frequency of 5 miRNA genes methylation (miRNA-9–1, miRNA-9–3, miRNA-34b/c, miRNA-193A, miRNA-129-2) in mammary epithelial neoplasms. Methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (MS-PCR) was used to detect methylated genes. 62 patients took part in this study. It was found that the frequency of all 5 miRNAs genes methylation is significantly higher in tumor tissue than in the adjacent histologically unchanged mammary tissue. The authors also performed a correlation analysis and founded a relationship between the methylation rate of certain miRNA genes with some clinical and molecular characteristics of the tumor. This information on epigenetic disorders of BC complements the “molecular portrait” of the tumor and can be used to diagnose and assess the prognosis.

Introduction. There is ample evidence that disseminated tumor cells (DTC), which are found in the bone marrow (BM) of patients with breast cancer (BC), including early stages, are progenitors of subsequent distant metastasis. Therefore, BM-DTC represent an additional tool for understanding carcinogenesis and estimating prognosis. Nevertheless, the existing data are controversial. The purpose of the study – to determine the frequency of DTC detection in BM of patients with luminal BC and also its relationship with some clinical and immunophenotypic parameters. Materials and methods. BM bioptates of 65 luminal BC patients were analyzed for the presence of DTC by Attune Acoustic Focusing Cytometer. For the first time in Russia, the sensitivity of the DTC detection method in the BM to the level of 1 × 10–7 myelocaryocytes was increased. Results. In BM, DTC were detected in 40 % of patients, and this finding did not correlate with stage of BC and degree of malignancy. The level of CD8+ lymphocytes in patients with DTC in the BM was significantly lower and amounted to 39,2 % versus 48,1 % in patients without DTC (p = 0,011). The content of myelocaryocytes with DTC-positive status was 1,6 times lower than in the absence of DTC (р = 0,007). Other parameters of the myelogram did not differ significantly. Moreover, no significant correlations were found between the presence of DTC in BM and the breast tumor immunophenotype (HLA-I: p = 0,74; HLA-DR: p = 0,93; CD71: p = 0,46). Conclusion. The presence of BM-DTC is more interrelated with myelogram and subpopulation of BM lymphocytes than with the clinical characteristics of tumor.

The methylation of CpG islands in the promoter regions of miRNA genes is an epigenetic modification that plays a decisive role in the breast cancer (BC) initiation and progression. The aim of the study was to investigate the frequency of 5 miRNA genes methylation (miRNA-9–1, miRNA-9–3, miRNA-34b/c, miRNA-193A, miRNA-129-2) in mammary epithelial neoplasms. Methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (MS-PCR) was used to detect methylated genes. 62 patients took part in this study. It was found that the frequency of all 5 miRNAs genes methylation is significantly higher in tumor tissue than in the adjacent histologically unchanged mammary tissue. The authors also performed a correlation analysis and founded a relationship between the methylation rate of certain miRNA genes with some clinical and molecular characteristics of the tumor. This information on epigenetic disorders of BC complements the “molecular portrait” of the tumor and can be used to diagnose and assess the prognosis.