Sarcopenia is independently associated with poor preoperative physical fitness in patients undergoing colorectal cancer surgery.

Background: Accurate preoperative risk assessment for major colorectal cancer (CRC) surgery remains challenging. Body composition (BC) and cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) can be used to evaluate risk. The relationship between BC and CPET in patients undergoing curative CRC surgery is unclear.

PAF1c links S-phase progression to immune evasion and MYC function in pancreatic carcinoma.

In pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), endogenous MYC is required for S-phase progression and escape from immune surveillance. Here we show that MYC in PDAC cells is needed for the recruitment of the PAF1c transcription elongation complex to RNA polymerase and that depletion of CTR9, a PAF1c subunit, enables long-term survival of PDAC-bearing mice. PAF1c is largely dispensable for normal proliferation and regulation of MYC target genes.

How to Manage Advanced Differentiated Thyroid Cancer: Step-by-Step Analysis from Two Italian Tertiary Referral Centers.

Background: Differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC) has an excellent prognosis; however, advanced disease is associated with a worse prognosis and is relatively common. Surgery followed by RAI treatment remains the mainstream treatment for a large majority of patients with high- and intermediate-risk DTC, but its benefits should be carefully weighed against the potential for harm. The aim of this paper is to critically review the experience in treating advanced DTC at two tertiary referral centers in Italy.

Long-term organoid culture of a small intestinal neuroendocrine tumor.

Gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NETs) are rare and highly heterogeneous neoplasms whose incidence has markedly increased over the last decades. A grading system based on the tumor cells' proliferation index predicts high-risk for G3 NETs. However, low-to-intermediate grade (G1/G2) NETs have an unpredictable clinical course that varies from indolent to highly malignant.

Case report of a very rare primary malignant bone tumor: Mixed type maxillary osteosarcoma.

Osteosarcoma (OS) is the most common primary malignant bone tumor, accounting for approximately 20% of all primary bone malignancies. OS affects 2-4.8 in 1,000,000 individuals annually and is more common in men than women (1.

Smart IM-MS and NMR study of natural diastereomers: the study case of the essential oil from Senecio transiens.

Unambiguous identification of the components of a natural mixture remains a challenging and meticulous issue. Usually, different analytical techniques and laborious separation protocols are employed; nevertheless, in some cases, delicate and equivocal problems are hardly addressed by traditional methods. In this context, an original methodology for the analysis of natural samples consisting of recent mass spectrometry methods based on ion mobility (MS-IM) is proposed.

Lysosomal lipid switch sensitises to nutrient deprivation and mTOR targeting in pancreatic cancer.

Objective: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is an aggressive disease with limited therapeutic options. However, metabolic adaptation to the harsh PDAC environment can expose liabilities useful for therapy. Targeting the key metabolic regulator mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) and its downstream pathway shows efficacy only in subsets of patients but gene modifiers maximising response remain to be identified.

Radiotherapy after testis-sparing surgery for seminoma in monorchid patients: safety and efficacy.

Purpose: To evaluate local control and longitudinal endocrine data in monorchid patients treated with testicular-sparing surgery and adjuvant radiotherapy (RT) for seminomatous germ-cell tumors.

Methods: We searched our database established in 2009 for patients with seminoma who received testis irradiation following partial orchiectomy up to 2018. Eleven patients were identified.

Combinatorial Effect of Magnetic Field and Radiotherapy in PDAC Organoids: A Pilot Study.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is highly refractory to systemic treatment, including radiotherapy (RT) either as alone or in combination with chemotherapy. Magnetic resonance (MR)-guided RT is a novel treatment technique which conjugates the high MR imaging contrast resolution to the possibility of re-adapting treatment plan to daily anatomical variations. Magnetic field (MF) might exert a biological effect that could be exploited to enhance radiation effect.

Revisional ileoanal pouch surgery: a systematic literature review assessing outcomes over the last 40 years.

Aim: Failure of primary ileal pouch-anal anastomosis (IPAA) occurs in up to 15% of patients. Revision surgery may be offered to patients wishing to maintain gastrointestinal continuity. This paper explores the literature relating to IPAA revision surgery, focusing on pouch function after revision and factors associated with pouch failure.

A systematic review of the literature assessing the outcomes of stapled haemorrhoidopexy versus open haemorrhoidectomy.

Background: Symptomatic haemorrhoids affect a large number of patients throughout the world. The aim of this systematic review was to compare the surgical outcomes of stapled haemorrhoidopexy (SH) versus open haemorrhoidectomy (OH) over a 20-year period.

Methods: Randomized controlled trials published between January 1998 and January 2019 were extracted from Pubmed using defined search criteria.

Postoperative risk of pancreatic fistula after distal pancreatectomy with or without spleen preservation.

Introduction: Outcomes after distal pancreatectomy with or without splenectomy are controversial. The present study aims to investigate differences in short-term and long-term outcomes between spleen-preserving distal pancreatectomy (SPDP) and distal pancreatectomy with splenectomy (DPS).

Methods: In this retrospective review of consecutive patients undergoing distal pancreatectomy with or without splenectomy from January 2011 until December 2017 for benign disease, the primary endpoint was to compare postoperative pancreatic fistula (POPF).

Direct Identification of α-Bisabolol Enantiomers in an Essential Oil Using a Combined Ion Mobility-Mass Spectrometry/Quantum Chemistry Approach.

Enantiomer-specific identification of chiral molecules in natural extracts is a challenging task, as many routine analytical techniques fail to provide selectivity in multicomponent mixtures. Here we describe an alternative approach, based on the combination of ion mobility-mass spectrometry (IM-MS) and quantum chemistry (QM), for the direct enantiomers differentiation in crude essential oils. The identification of α-bisabolol enantiomers contained in the raw essential oil (EO) from the Corsican fruits is reported as a proof-of-concept.

Surgical Assessment Units: The Key to More Efficient Emergency Surgical Provision and Admissions?

Background: Hospitals establish surgical assessment units to promote efficiency and improve patient experience. Surgical assessment units are believed to reduce unnecessary admissions. We evaluated a hospital's on-call surgery service without this facility to determine benefits of implementation.

Treatment Outcome of metastatic lesions from renal cell carcinoma underGoing Extra-cranial stereotactic body radioTHERapy: The together retrospective study.

Objectives: stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) use has increased overtime for the management of metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) patients, with a likely good control of irradiated lesions. We planned a retrospective multicenter Italian study, with the aim of investigating the outcome of treatment with SBRT for non-brain secondary lesions in mRCC patients.

Methods: all consecutive metastatic non-brain lesions from mRCC that underwent SBRT at nine Italian institutions from January 2015 to June 2017 were considered.

Dermoscopy of primary cutaneous B- and T-cell lymphomas and pseudolymphomas presenting as solitary nodules and tumors: a case-control study with histopathologic correlation.

Background: Primary cutaneous lymphomas (PCLs) and pseudolymphomas presenting as single pink-red nodules/tumors are highly unspecific and include a wide differential diagnosis.

Objective: To describe the dermoscopic characteristics of PCL/pseudolymphoma.

Methods: In this retrospective, case-control study, we evaluated the dermoscopic features of patients with solitary PCL/pseudolymphoma tumors and compared them to a control group of non-lymphomatous, nonpigmented, solitary tumors (e.

Preclinical Modelling of PDA: Is Organoid the New Black?

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) is a malignancy of the exocrine pancreas with the worst prognosis among all solid tumours, and soon to become the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths. A more comprehensive understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying this disease is crucial to the development of diagnostic tools as well as to the identification of more effective therapies. High-frequency mutations in PDA occur in "undruggable" genes, and molecular subtyping based on bulk transcriptome analysis does not yet nominate valid therapeutic intervention strategies.

Radiotherapy for the treatment of distant nodes metastases from oligometastatic urothelial cancer: A retrospective case series.

Objectives: To investigate the efficacy of stereotactic body radiotherapy in oligometastatic urothelial carcinoma with node-only involvement.

Methods: We retrospectively collected data on the outcomes of patients who underwent stereotactic body radiotherapy for metastatic node lesions from oligometastatic urothelial carcinoma at Radiotherapy Unit of University Hospital of Parma, Parma, Italy. The investigated outcomes were lesion size, standardized uptake value, overall response rate, lesion control rate, lesion progression-free interval, progression-free survival and overall survival.

Liver Angiopoietin-2 Is a Key Predictor of De Novo or Recurrent Hepatocellular Cancer After Hepatitis C Virus Direct-Acting Antivirals.

Unlabelled: Recent reports suggested that direct acting antivirals (DAAs) might favor hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In study 1, we studied the proangiogenic liver microenvironment in 242 DAA-treated chronic hepatitis C patients with advanced fibrosis. Angiopoietin-2 (ANGPT2) expression was studied in tissue (cirrhotic and/or neoplastic) from recurrent, de novo, nonrecurrent HCC, or patients never developing HCC.

Microenvironment inflammatory infiltrate drives growth speed and outcome of hepatocellular carcinoma: a prospective clinical study.

In HCC, tumor microenvironment, heavily influenced by the underlying chronic liver disease, etiology and stage of the tissue damage, affects tumor progression and determines the high heterogeneity of the tumor. Aim of this study was to identify the circulating and tissue components of the microenvironment immune-mediated response affecting the aggressiveness and the ensuing clinical outcome. We analyzed the baseline paired HCC and the surrounding tissue biopsies from a prospective cohort of 132 patients at the first diagnosis of HCC for immunolocalization of PD-1/PD-L1, FoxP3, E-cadherin, CLEC2 and for a panel of 82 microRNA associated with regulation of angiogenesis, cell proliferation, cell signaling, immune control and autophagy.