Monika Sitarz

Background/Aim: Dentists are responsible for a substantial proportion of antibiotic prescriptions, and antibiotic use contributes to selection pressure for antimicrobial resistance, while inappropriate use increases this burden without corresponding patient benefit. Adequate knowledge of antibiotic indications, prophylaxis and selection is therefore essential in dental education. This study aimed to evaluate the knowledge and awareness of final‐year dental students and dental interns in Poland regarding systemic antibiotic therapy and antibiotic prophylaxis in dentistry. Material and Methods: A nationwide, multi‐institutional cross‐sectional survey was conducted among final‐year dental students and dental interns from all 10 dental universities in Poland. A validated questionnaire assessed knowledge of indications for antibiotic prophylaxis in systemic conditions, indications for systemic antibiotic therapy in dental diseases, use of prophylaxis during dental procedures in immunocompromised patients, antibiotic selection in clinical scenarios and self‐reported prescribing experiences. Results: A total of 1144 respondents participated, including 801 students and 343 interns. Interns demonstrated significantly better adherence to guideline‐based recommendations across most domains. Students more frequently indicated antibiotic use in conditions where it is not recommended, such as localised dental infections without systemic involvement and selected systemic diseases. Differences were also observed in antibiotic selection, with interns more often choosing guideline‐recommended first‐line agents. Interns reported more frequent antibiotic prescribing due to concerns about postoperative complications and diagnostic uncertainty. Conclusions: Although dental interns exhibited greater knowledge and selected guideline‐concordant responses more frequently than final‐year students, important gaps in understanding of evidence‐based antibiotic use persist in both groups. These findings highlight the need for enhanced education and antimicrobial stewardship training in undergraduate and postgraduate dental curricula to promote rational antibiotic prescribing and combat antimicrobial resistance.

This article traces the contribution of Polish scientists and physicians to the development of world medicine, from the Renaissance to the twentieth century. Beginning with Wojciech Oczko’s pioneering work in balneology and health education, the paper follows a line of researchers whose discoveries reshaped clinical practice and public health well beyond Poland’s borders. Among them are Ignacy Łukasiewicz, whose kerosene lamp enabled the first documented night-time surgery; Napoleon Cybulski, discoverer of adrenaline; Ludwik Hirszfeld, co-creator of the ABO blood-group system; Rudolf Weigl, inventor of an effective typhus vaccine; Marie Skłodowska-Curie, twice a Nobel laureate and pioneer of radiotherapy; and Hilary Koprowski and Albert Sabin, whose oral polio vaccines saved millions of children worldwide. The article argues that Polish medicine’s contribution to global science is not a series of isolated episodes, but a continuous tradition, repeatedly obscured by partition, war, emigration, and what may be called the “dispersal of scientific identity”: the tendency of international scholarship to detach a researcher’s achievements from their national origin. Drawing on the Talmudic principle that whoever saves one life saves the entire world, the paper situates these biographies within a broader reflection on memory, identity, and the ethics of medical science.

Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most common cancers in the world. It is a multi-factorial disease influenced by both genetic and environmental factors such as diet, obesity, radiation exposure, and infectious agents. Viral infections usually lead to chronic inflammation, which can initiate the development of cancers. To date, only a few studies have been published about Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) and human papillomavirus (HPV) infections in the context of the development of GC. In particular, research on the development of cancer among people under 45 years of age, including the impacts of EBV and HPV, is rare, and clear results have not been obtained. The aim of this study was to analyze the frequency of occurrence of EBV and HPV in GC, particularly in early-onset gastric cancer (EOGC). Tissue material from 135 patients with GC, including 84 men and 51 women, was examined. RT-PCR was performed to detect EBV, and PCR was performed to detect HPV. There were no significant impacts of EBV and HPV infections on any subtype of GC. There was also no statistically significant dependence of gender and location of the tumor on any subtype of GC. Further research on the impacts of infectious agents such as EBV and HPV on GC should be conducted using larger populations.

Gastric cancer (GC) is the fifth most frequently diagnosed cancer and the fifth most common cause of cancer death in the world. Regarding the age at which the diagnosis was made, GC is divided into early-onset gastric cancer (EOGC—up to 45 years of age) and conventional GC (older than 45). EOGC constitutes approximately 10% of all GCs. Numerous reports indicate that EOGC is more aggressive than conventional GC and is often discovered at an advanced tumor stage, which has an impact on the five-year survival rate. The median survival rate for advanced-stage GC is very poor, amounting to less than 12 months. Risk factors for GC include family history, alcohol consumption, smoking, Helicobacter pylori, and Epstein–Barr virus infection. It has been shown that a proper diet and lifestyle can play a preventive role in GC. However, research indicates that risk factors for conventional GC are less correlated with EOGC. In addition, the unclear etiology of EOGC and the late diagnosis of this disease limit the possibilities of effective treatment. Genetic factors are considered a likely cause of EOGC, as young patients are less exposed to environmental carcinogens. Research characterizing GC in young patients is scarce. This comprehensive study presents all aspects: epidemiology, risk factors, new treatment strategies, and future directions.

Oral cavity and lip cancers are the 16th most common cancer in the world. It is widely known that a lack of public knowledge about precancerous lesions, oral cancer symptoms, and risk factors leads to diagnostic delay and therefore a lower survival rate. Risk factors, which include drinking alcohol, smoking, HPV infection, a pro-inflammatory factor-rich diet, and poor oral hygiene, must be known and avoided by the general population. Regular clinical oral examinations should be enriched in an oral cancer search protocol for the most common symptoms, which are summarized in this review. Moreover, new diagnostic methods, some of which are already available (vital tissue staining, optical imaging, oral cytology, salivary biomarkers, artificial intelligence, colposcopy, and spectroscopy), and newly researched techniques increase the likelihood of stopping the pathological process at a precancerous stage. Well-established oral cancer treatments (surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy) are continuously being developed using novel technologies, increasing their success rate. Additionally, new techniques are being researched. This review presents a novel glance at oral cancer—its current classification and epidemiology—and will provide new insights into the development of new diagnostic methods and therapies.

Telemedicine, a rapidly evolving field enabled by telecommunications technology, is transforming healthcare on a global scale. It offers new avenues for accessing medical services and redefines the patient-physician relationship, encompassing diagnosis, treatment, and health condition monitoring. However, this transformative force in healthcare is accompanied by intricate legal and regulatory complexities that warrant profound exploration. This article delves into the legal facets of telemedicine, examining its regulation, patient data protection, physician liability, and global variations. It also underscores the paramount importance of safeguarding patient privacy in the digital age of healthcare. This comprehensive analysis illustrates the profound influence of legal considerations on healthcare quality and patient safety, and how they shape the course of technology-driven healthcare.

Purpose: Recent studies have suggested that molecular targets for the anti-angiogenic therapy might constitute a basis for additional therapy in gastric cancer treatment. A vast number of molecules, receptors, pathways, specific interactions, and thus strategies that target gastric cancer angiogenesis specifically have been reported in numerous research articles and clinical trials. Methods: We conducted a systematic literature review of molecularly targeted treatment strategies in gastric cancer on the following databases—PubMed, Google Scholar, and Scopus—on September 20, 2020. Multiple articles and evaluations were searched for studies reporting newly found and promising molecular anti-angiogenic therapy pathways. Eventually, 39 articles regarding the anti-angiogenic therapy in gastric cancer were included in the final analysis. Results: As a consequence of the release of the pro-angiogenic molecules from the tumour cells, gastric cancer presents high angiogenic capability. Therefore, potential schemes for future treatment strategies include the decrease of the process ligands as well as the expression of their receptors. Moreover, the increase in the angiogenic inhibitor levels and direct aim for the inner walls of the endothelial cells appear as a promising therapeutic strategy. Beyond that, angiogenesis process inhibition seems to indirectly exaggerate the effects of chemotherapy in the considered patients. Conclusions: The anti-angiogenic treatment in gastric cancer patients evaluates its significance especially in the early stages of the malignancy. The studies conducted so far show that most of the meaningful angiogenic factors and receptors with the potential molecular pathways should be further evaluated since they could potentially play a substantial role in future therapies.

There is frequently information given that patients apply for financial compensation mainly related to infection that occurred, in their opinion, in a specific medical health service as a consequence of specific treatment performed by particular dentist. It needs to be highlighted that both the dentist and the medical facility are not on a lost position from the beginning. Dentists should be up-to-date with legal rules and medical/sanitary regime/scientific societies recommendations concerning functioning of a medical facility during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, as well as legal and insurance security of a medical facility, and above all a dentist one, should be the basis for safe treatment service. The article analyzes a legal position, scientific societies and national consultants recommendations respectively regarding therapeutic activities by dentists in the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Jak wynika z aktualnych doniesień medialnych, pacjenci coraz częściej występują z roszczeniami – głównie finansowymi – związanymi z zakażeniem SARS-CoV-2, które ich zdaniem nastąpiło w konkretnej placówce medycznej, podczas udzielania konkretnych świadczeń zdrowotnych przez konkretnego lekarza dentystę. Należy zauważyć i stanowczo podkreślić, że lekarz dentysta, ani placówka medyczna nie znajdują się na z góry przegranej pozycji w tego rodzaju sytuacji. Lekarze dentyści powinni wykazywać się znajomością podstaw prawnych, zaleceń medycznych i sanitarnych towarzystw naukowych, konsultantów krajowych oraz zasad funkcjonowania placówki medycznej w okresie pandemii COVID-19. Podstawą prowadzenia bezpiecznej działalności leczniczej powinno być zabezpieczenie prawne i ubezpieczeniowe lekarza dentysty oraz placówki medycznej, w której prowadzi praktykę. Artykuł stanowi analizę sytuacji prawnej, rekomendacji towarzystw naukowych oraz zaleceń konsultantów krajowych w dziedzinie prowadzenia działalności leczniczej przez lekarzy dentystów w dobie pandemii SARS-CoV-2.

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) constitutes one of the hallmarks of carcinogenesis consisting in the re-differentiation of the epithelial cells into mesenchymal ones changing the cellular phenotype into a malignant one. EMT has been shown to play a role in the malignant transformation and while occurring in the tumor microenvironment, it significantly affects the aggressiveness of gastric cancer, among others. Importantly, after EMT occurs, gastric cancer patients are more susceptible to the induction of resistance to various therapeutic agents, worsening the clinical outcome of patients. Therefore, there is an urgent need to search for the newest pharmacological agents targeting EMT to prevent further progression of gastric carcinogenesis and potential metastases. Therapies targeted at EMT might be combined with other currently available treatment modalities, which seems to be an effective strategy to treat gastric cancer patients. In this review, we have summarized recent advances in gastric cancer treatment in terms of targeting EMT specifically, such as the administration of polyphenols, resveratrol, tangeretin, luteolin, genistein, proton pump inhibitors, terpenes, other plant extracts, or inorganic compounds.

Gastric cancer constitutes one of the most prevalent malignancies in both sexes; it is currently the fourth major cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. The pathogenesis of gastric cancer is associated with the interaction between genetic and environmental factors, among which infection by Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is of major importance. The invasion, survival, colonization, and stimulation of further inflammation within the gastric mucosa are possible due to several evasive mechanisms induced by the virulence factors that are expressed by the bacterium. The knowledge concerning the mechanisms of H. pylori pathogenicity is crucial to ameliorate eradication strategies preventing the possible induction of carcinogenesis. This review highlights the current state of knowledge and the most recent findings regarding H. pylori virulence factors and their relationship with gastric premalignant lesions and further carcinogenesis.