Pathologic response and survival after neoadjuvant chemotherapy with or without pertuzumab in patients with HER2-positive breast cancer: the Neopearl nationwide collaborative study.

Purpose: Clinical trials have shown a significant increase in pathologic complete response (pCR) with the addition of pertuzumab to neoadjuvant chemotherapy for patients with early-stage HER-2 positive breast cancer. To date, limited studies have examined comparative outcomes of neoadjuvant pertuzumab in real-world setting. The Neopearl study aimed to assess comparative real-life efficacy and safety of neoadjuvant pertuzumab for these patients.

Stable Operation of a Free-Electron Laser Driven by a Plasma Accelerator.

The breakthrough provided by plasma-based accelerators enabled unprecedented accelerating fields by boosting electron beams to gigaelectronvolt energies within a few centimeters [1-4]. This, in turn, allows the realization of ultracompact light sources based on free-electron lasers (FELs) [5], as demonstrated by two pioneering experiments that reported the observation of self-amplified spontaneous emission (SASE) driven by plasma-accelerated beams [6,7]. However, the lack of stability and reproducibility due to the intrinsic nature of the SASE process (whose amplification starts from the shot noise of the electron beam) may hinder their effective implementation for user purposes.

Perspectives in linear accelerator for FLASH VHEE: Study of a compact C-band system.

Purpose: In order to translate the FLASH effect in clinical use and to treat deep tumors, Very High Electron Energy irradiations could represent a valid technique. Here, we address the main issues in the design of a VHEE FLASH machine. We present preliminary results for a compact C-band system aiming to reach a high accelerating gradient and high current necessary to deliver a Ultra High Dose Rate with a beam pulse duration of 3μs.

The Role of the CDK4/6 Inhibitor Ribociclib in Locally Advanced and Oligometastatic Hormone Receptor Positive, Her2 Negative, Advanced Breast Cancer: Case Series and Review of the Literature.

The recent addition of cyclin-dependent kinase 4 (CDK4) and CDK6 inhibitors to endocrine therapy has remarkably improved the outcome of patients affected with hormone receptor positive (HR+), human epidermal grow factor receptor 2 negative (HER2 -) advanced breast cancer (ABC). Ribociclib showed to be effective across most subgroups, regardless of the number and the site of metastasis. Up to 10% of patients with ABC, reported an oligometastatic condition, recently defined as a slow-volume metastatic disease with limited number and size of metastatic lesions (up to 5 and not necessarily in the same organ), potentially amenable for local treatment, aimed at achieving a complete remission status.

Palbociclib Plus Fulvestrant or Everolimus Plus Exemestane for Pretreated Advanced Breast Cancer with Lobular Histotype in ER+/HER2- Patients: A Propensity Score-Matched Analysis of a Multicenter Retrospective Patient Series.

Cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 inhibitors (CDK4/6i) in combination with endocrine therapy (ET) show meaningful efficacy and tolerability in patients with metastatic breast cancer (MBC), but the optimal sequence of ET has not been established. It is not clear if patients with lobular breast carcinomas (LBC) derive the same benefits when receiving second line CDK4/6i. This retrospective study compared the efficacy of palbociclib plus fulvestrant (PALBO-FUL) with everolimus plus exemestane (EVE-EXE) as second-line ET for hormone-resistant metastatic LBC.

High quality factor photonic cavity for dark matter axion searches.

Searches for dark matter axions involve the use of microwave resonant cavities operating in a strong magnetic field. Detector sensitivity is directly related to the cavity quality factor, which is limited, until recently, to the use of non-superconducting metals by the presence of the external magnetic field. In this paper, we present a cavity of novel design whose quality factor is not affected by a magnetic field.

Axion Search with a Quantum-Limited Ferromagnetic Haloscope.

A ferromagnetic axion haloscope searches for dark matter in the form of axions by exploiting their interaction with electronic spins. It is composed of an axion-to-electromagnetic field transducer coupled to a sensitive rf detector. The former is a photon-magnon hybrid system, and the latter is based on a quantum-limited Josephson parametric amplifier.

Efficacy and safety of T-DM1 in the 'common-practice' of HER2+ advanced breast cancer setting: a multicenter study.

Ado-trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1) is an antibody-drug conjugate approved for the treatment of patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive, metastatic breast cancer (mBC). The aim of this 'field-practice' study was to investigate the efficacy and safety of T-DM1, focusing on treatment line, previous lapatinib treatment and patterns of metastasis. Three hundred and three patients with HER2-positive mBC who received T-DM1 were identified by reviewing the medical records of 24 Italian Institutions.

Direct Measurement of Sub-10 fs Relativistic Electron Beams with Ultralow Emittance.

Ultralow emittance (≤20  nm, normalized) electron beams with 10^{5} electrons per bunch are obtained by tightly focusing an ultrafast (∼100  fs) laser pulse on the cathode of a 1.6 cell radio frequency photoinjector. Taking advantage of the small initial longitudinal emittance, a downstream velocity bunching cavity is used to compress the beam to <10  fs rms bunch length.

Demonstration of Single-Shot Picosecond Time-Resolved MeV Electron Imaging Using a Compact Permanent Magnet Quadrupole Based Lens.

We present the results of an experiment where a short focal length (∼1.3  cm), permanent magnet electron lens is used to image micron-size features (of a metal sample) with a single shot from an ultrahigh brightness picosecond-long 4 MeV electron beam emitted by a radio-frequency photoinjector. Magnification ratios in excess of 30× were obtained using a triplet of compact, small gap (3.

Clinical outcomes in octogenarians treated with docetaxel as first-line chemotherapy for castration-resistant prostate cancer.

Aim: To assess clinical outcomes in octogenarians treated with docetaxel (DOC) for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.

Patients & Methods: The multicenter retrospective study was based on a review of the pre- and post-DOC clinical history, DOC treatment and outcomes.

Results: We reviewed the records of 123 patients (median age: 82 years) who received DOC every 3 weeks or weekly, without significant grade 3-4 toxicities.

Impact of visceral metastases on outcome to abiraterone after docetaxel in castration-resistant prostate cancer patients.

Background: The objective of this study was to analyze the impact of visceral metastases in castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) treated with abiraterone.

Materials & Methods: All CRPC patients received abiraterone 1000 mg daily plus prednisone 10 mg orally daily. Liver and lung metastases were considered as visceral metastases.

Clinical experience with everolimus in the second-line treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma.

Everolimus is an oral inhibitor of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR-I) and is currently approved for the treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) after failure of first-line vascular endothelial growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI). In this narrative review, we aim to report the available evidence about the use of everolimus as second-line therapy for mRCC. A literature search was performed using PubMed/MEDLINE and abstracts from major conferences on clinical oncology as sources.

Clinical outcomes in a contemporary series of "young" patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer who were 60 years and younger.

Background: The prognosis of younger patients with prostate cancer is unclear, and the very few studies assessing those with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) have mainly involved patients treated with older therapies. The aim of this observational study was to evaluate the clinical outcomes of a contemporary series of docetaxel-treated patients with mCRPC who were 60 years and younger.

Patients And Methods: We retrospectively identified 134 patients who were 60 years and younger who were treated with docetaxel in 25 Italian hospitals and recorded their predocetaxel history of prostate cancer, their characteristics at the start of chemotherapy, and their postdocetaxel treatment history and outcomes.

Clinical Outcomes of Castration-resistant Prostate Cancer Treatments Administered as Third or Fourth Line Following Failure of Docetaxel and Other Second-line Treatment: Results of an Italian Multicentre Study.

Background: The availability of new agents (NAs) active in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) progressing after docetaxel treatment (abiraterone acetate, cabazitaxel, and enzalutamide) has led to the possibility of using them sequentially to obtain a cumulative survival benefit.

Objective: To provide clinical outcome data relating to a large cohort of mCRPC patients who received a third-line NA after the failure of docetaxel and another NA.

Design, Setting, And Participants: We retrospectively reviewed the clinical records of patients who had received at least two successive NAs after the failure of docetaxel.

Safety and clinical outcomes of patients treated with abiraterone acetate after docetaxel: results of the Italian Named Patient Programme.

Objective: To assess the safety and efficacy of abiraterone acetate (AA) in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) treated in a compassionate named patient programme (NPP).

Patients And Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the clinical records of patients with mCRPC treated with AA at the standard daily oral dose of 1000 mg plus prednisone 10 mg/day in 19 Italian hospitals.

Results: We assessed 265 patients with mCRPC treated with AA.

Targeted therapies and complete responses in first line treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma. A meta-analysis of published trials.

Antiangiogenic agents (AAs) have reported grater efficacy compared to interferon. Despite these advances, radiological complete response to therapy is rare. We meta-analyzed the incidence of complete response in patients treated with AAs and in controls in main randomized clinical trials for first-line therapy in metastatic renal cell carcinoma.

Clinical and pathological features of primary neuroectodermal tumor/Ewing sarcoma of the kidney.

Objective: To collect and analyze clinical and pathological features of primitive neuroectodermal tumor (PNET)/Ewing sarcoma (EWS), a rare tumor occurring most commonly in bone and soft tissues of young people, which rarely occurs as a primary renal neoplasm and exhibits highly aggressive biological behavior.

Methods: All cases of PNET/EWS published from 1975 to February 2012 were collected. When available, clinical and pathological data were extracted for each case.

DAΦNE operation with electron-cloud-clearing electrodes.

The effects of an electron cloud (e-cloud) on beam dynamics are one of the major factors limiting performances of high intensity positron, proton, and ion storage rings. In the electron-positron collider DAΦNE, namely, a horizontal beam instability due to the electron-cloud effect has been identified as one of the main limitations on the maximum stored positron beam current and as a source of beam quality deterioration. During the last machine shutdown in order to mitigate such instability, special electrodes have been inserted in all dipole and wiggler magnets of the positron ring.