Publications by authors named "Alessia Cavo"

Article Synopsis
  • The IMDC score is crucial for predicting outcomes and guiding treatment in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC), especially when starting therapy with nivolumab.
  • A multicenter study analyzed 492 mRCC patients to see how changes in IMDC categories affected their overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) after starting nivolumab.
  • Results indicated that patients maintaining or improving their IMDC category had better survival outcomes compared to those whose condition worsened, highlighting the importance of IMDC monitoring in mRCC treatment.
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Introduction: Rare genitourinary tumors are lacking of randomized and observational data. We aimed to describe the clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients with collecting duct carcinoma (CDC) through the Meet-URO 23/I-RARE database.

Materials And Methods: We performed a multicentric retrospective-prospective study within the Meet-URO network, enrolling patients from March 2021 (retrospectively up from 2011) until March 2023.

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To define the prognostic significance of first-line TKI in mRCC patients receiving nivolumab. A total of 571 mRCC patients who received ≥second line nivolumab were included in this subanalysis. The correlation between prior TKI (sunitinib vs.

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Background: Immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have significantly improved metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) prognosis, although their efficacy in patients with bone metastases (BMs) remains poorly understood. We investigated the prognostic role of natremia in pretreated RCC patients with BMs receiving immunotherapy.

Materials And Methods: This retrospective multicenter study included RCC patients with BMs receiving nivolumab as second-line therapy or beyond.

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Background: Although nivolumab prolongs overall survival (OS) in pretreated patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC), underlining clinical and biological features of long-term responses are still to be determined. This study aims to investigate clinical and pathological characteristics of mRCC patients who achieved long-term responses during nivolumab treatment.

Materials And Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed on mRCC patients receiving nivolumab as second or further therapy line between May 2016 and January 2019 in 34 Italian Oncology Centres.

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Article Synopsis
  • The Meet-URO 18 study investigates metastatic renal cell carcinoma patients undergoing nivolumab treatment in two distinct groups based on their progression-free survival (PFS) times.
  • The study utilizes detailed immunohistochemical analysis to assess various markers like T-lineage markers (CD3, CD4, CD8), macrophages (CD68), and PD-L1 expression in tumor samples from 113 patients, significantly expanding upon previous data.
  • Results indicate that tumor tissue with lower CD4 and higher CD56 expression correlates with a more favorable antitumor response, suggesting the potential of CD56 as a biomarker for immunotherapy effectiveness.
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Article Synopsis
  • * The study involves detailed analysis of various immune markers in tumor samples, including T-cell markers (CD3, CD4, CD8), macrophage presence (CD68), and PD-L1 expression, now with an expanded sample size of 161 tumors from 113 patients.
  • * Findings indicate that lower CD4 levels and higher CD8/CD4 ratios correlate with certain tumor characteristics, suggesting a specific T-cell subpopulation plays a role in anti-tumor response; CD56 might serve as a potential
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Introduction: Penile squamous cell carcinoma (PSCC) is a rare tumor with an aggressive behavior. The Meet-URO 23/I-RARE registry includes rare genitourinary malignancies. We extracted patients with PSCC to conduct a retrospective study aimed at assessing clinical outcomes and prognostic factors.

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Background: Immunotherapies exhibit peculiar cancer response patterns in contrast to chemotherapy and targeted therapy. Some patients experience disease response after initial progression or durable responses after treatment interruption. In clinical practice, immune checkpoint inhibitors may be continued after radiological progression if clinical benefit is observed.

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Importance: Low sodium levels have been associated with negative outcomes among patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) receiving therapies other than immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs).

Objective: To investigate the role of natremia in patients with mRCC receiving nivolumab as a second-line or subsequent therapy.

Design, Setting, And Participants: In this retrospective cohort study, the clinical and biochemical data of patients with mRCC receiving nivolumab were collected from October 2015 to November 2019 as part of a multicenter Italian study.

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Background: Prognostic and predictive factors for patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) treated with immunotherapy are highly warranted, and the immune tumor microenvironment (I-TME) is under investigation.

Methods: The Meet-URO 18 was a multicentric retrospective study assessing the I-TME in mRCC patients treated with ≥2nd-line nivolumab, dichotomized into and according to progression-free survival (≥12 months and ≤3 months, respectively). The primary objective was to identify differential immunohistochemical (IHC) patterns between the two groups.

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Non-clear cell renal cell carcinoma (nccRCC) represents a heterogeneous histological group which is 20-25% of those with renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Patients with nccRCC have limited therapeutic options due to their exclusion from phase III randomized trials. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness and tolerability of pembrolizumabaxitinib combination in chromophobe and papillary metastatic RCC (mRCC) patients enrolled in the I-RARE (Italian Registry on rAre genitor-uRinary nEoplasms) observational ongoing study (Meet-URO 23).

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Article Synopsis
  • The treatment choices for patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) remain reliant on initial clinical and lab factors.
  • A study analyzing data from 422 mRCC patients on nivolumab found that changes in neutrophil, lymphocyte, and platelet counts, especially the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), correlate with disease progression.
  • Early variations in neutrophils and NLR were identified as significant independent predictors of overall and progression-free survival, potentially aiding in treatment decisions.
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Background: Nephrectomy is considered the backbone of managing patients with localized and selected metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC). The prognostic role of nephrectomy has been widely investigated with cytokines and targeted therapy, but it is still unclear in the immunotherapy era.

Methods: We investigated the Meet-URO-15 study dataset of 571 pretreated mRCC patients receiving nivolumab as second or further lines about the prognostic role of the previous nephrectomy (received in either the localized or metastatic setting) in the overall population and according to the Meet-URO score groups.

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Background: Information on immune responses in cancer patients following mRNA COVID-19 vaccines is still insufficient, but generally, patients had impaired serological responses, especially those with hematological malignancies. We evaluated serological response to COVID-19 mRNA vaccine in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy compared with healthy controls.

Methods: In total, 195 cancer patients and 400 randomly selected controls who had been administered a Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna COVID-19 vaccines in two doses were compared.

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Background: Despite the survival advantage, not all metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) patients achieve a long-term benefit from immunotherapy. Moreover, the identification of prognostic biomarkers is still an unmet clinical need.

Methods: This multicenter retrospective study investigated the prognostic role of peripheral-blood inflammatory indices and clinical factors to develop a novel prognostic score in mRCC patients receiving at least second-line nivolumab.

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Immunotherapy based on anti PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors is the new standard of advanced non-small cell lung cancers. Pembrolizumab, nivolumab and atezolizumab are used in clinical practice. The strict eligibility criteria of clinical trials do not allow researchers to fully represent treatment effects in the patients that will ultimately use these drugs.

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Background: Patients with cancer are at increased risk of complicated severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, but it is still unclear if the risk of mortality is influenced by cancer type or ongoing anti-cancer treatments. An interesting debate concerning the potential relationship between androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) and SARS-CoV-2 infection has recently been opened in the case of prostate cancer (PC), and the aim of this multi-centre cohort study was to investigate the incidence and outcomes of SARS-CoV-2 infection in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostrate cancer (mCRPC).

Patients And Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the clinical records of patients with mCRPC who developed SARS-CoV-2 infection, and recorded their baseline clinical characteristics, their history of PC and SARS-CoV-2 infection, and their oncological status and treatment at the time of infection.

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Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has overwhelmed the health systems worldwide. Data regarding the impact of COVID-19 on cancer patients (CPs) undergoing or candidate for immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are lacking. We depicted the practice and adaptations in the management of patients with solid tumors eligible or receiving ICIs during the COVID-19 pandemic, with a special focus on Campania region.

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Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has become a public health emergency affecting frail populations, including patients with cancer. This poses the question of whether cancer treatments can be postponed or modified without compromising their efficacy, especially for highly curable cancers such as germ cell tumors (GCTs).

Materials And Methods: To depict the state-of-the-art management of GCTs during the COVID-19 pandemic, a survey including 26 questions was circulated by e-mail among the physicians belonging to three cooperative groups: (a) Italian Germ Cell Cancer Group; (b) European Reference Network-Rare Adult Solid Cancers, Domain G3 (rare male genitourinary cancers); and (c) Genitourinary Medical Oncologists of Canada.

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Introduction: We present the management of the second reported case of carcinosarcoma of the kidney parenchyma with malignant degeneration of both epithelial and mesenchymal components.

Case Report: A 36-year-old woman came to our attention for an incidental sonographic finding of a lesion in the lower pole of the left kidney. A contrasted computed tomography scan confirmed the presence of a 50 × 52 mm contrasted lesion in the left lower kidney pole.

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Radium-223 dichloride (Ra223) represents the unique bone-directed treatment option that shows an improvement in overall survival (OS) in metastatic castrate resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). However, there is an urgent need for the identification of reliable biomarkers to non-invasively determine its efficacy (possibly improving patients' selection or identifying responders' after therapy completion). 18F-Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-avidity is low in naïve prostate cancer, but it is enhanced in advanced and chemotherapy-refractory mCRPC, providing prognostic insights.

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Background: The aim of this work was to to evaluate the incidence and risk factors of adverse events (AEs), focusing on cardiovascular events (CVEs) and hypokalemia, in patients treated with abiraterone acetate (AA) and prednisone (PDN) outside clinical trials, and their association with survival outcomes.

Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study of 105 patients treated from 2011 to 2016. Incidence of AEs was descriptively summarized in the whole cohort and by subgroup (pre- post-docetaxel).

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Genitourinary cancers represent a heterogeneous group of malignancies arising from genitourinary tract, and are responsible for almost 359 000 newly diagnosed cases and 58 420 related deaths in USA. Continuous advances in cancer genetics and genomics have contributed towards changing the management paradigms of these neoplasms. Neoangiogenesis, through the activation of the tyrosine-kinase receptors signalling pathways, represents the key mediator event in promoting tumour proliferation, differentiation, invasiveness and motility.

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In the last few years, cancer immunotherapy has changed the natural history and treatment strategies of a number of solid tumors, including melanoma and lung cancer. The anti-PD-1 nivolumab showed a survival benefit compared with everolimus in the second-line treatment of renal cell carcinoma, resulting in a radical shift in perspective in the treatment of this neoplasia and suggesting a new scenario beyond tyrosine kinase inhibitors. Checkpoint inhibitors might also improve the treatment of urothelial cancer, considering the promising results achieved so far and the relatively low efficacy of currently available treatments.

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