Impact of laterality and mucinous histology on relapse-free and overall survival in a registry-based colon cancer series.

Recent data suggest that tumor laterality and mucinous histology may be clinically relevant. We investigated how both variables impact on the prognosis and the response to therapies in a large population-based cohort of cancer patients. Incidence data, clinical and pathological features, and outcome were systematically collected from the Tumor Registry of Parma over the years 2004-2009.

Cytidine deaminase enzymatic activity is a prognostic biomarker in gemcitabine/platinum-treated advanced non-small-cell lung cancer: a prospective validation study.

Background: Cytidine deaminase (CDA) plays a crucial role in the degradation of gemcitabine. In our previous retrospective study, CDA enzymatic activity was the strongest prognostic biomarker of the activity and efficacy of platinum/gemcitabine combinations. The aim of this prospective study was to validate the prognostic role of CDA activity in the first-line treatment of advanced non-small-cell lung cancer.

Very late recurrence of an apparently benign pheochromocytoma.

Pheochromocytoma is a tumor that has the probability to relapse in about 10% of surgically treated cases. Currently, the only recognized criteria of malignancy in these neoplasms are the evidence of metastasis at non-chromaffin sites. No reliable clinical or histopathological parameter has been, so far, identified to predict malignancy in patients with diagnosis of primary pheochromocytoma.

Prognostic and predictive factors in patients treated with chemotherapy for advanced urothelial cancer: where do we stand?

The standard of care for patients with local advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma is chemotherapy. However, results with this are rather disappointing, and validated prognostic factors and biomarkers of tumor response, which are useful in the decision-making process, are still lacking. PubMed databases were searched for articles published until November 2013.

Thyroid cancer incidence by histological type and related variants in a mildly iodine-deficient area of Northern Italy, 1998 to 2009.

Background: The incidence of thyroid cancer is increasing in several countries. However, the issue of whether this applies to all different histological types and related variants is poorly addressed.

Methods: All incident thyroid cancers diagnosed between 1998 and 2009 in a mildly iodine-deficient area in northern Italy were derived from a population-based tumor registry.