Gold nanoparticles (Au-NPs) have been explored as potential vectors for enhancing the antitumor efficacy of doxorubicin (DOX) while minimizing its cardiotoxic effects. However, the impacts of DOX Au-NPs on cardiac function and oxidative stress remain inadequately understood. This study aimed to explore the effects of DOX Au-NPs in comparison to free DOX, focusing on oxidative stress markers, inflammation, ultrastructural changes, and cardiac function.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDoxorubicin (DOX) is an effective anticancer drug, but its use is limited by dose-dependent heart toxicity. Quercetin is a natural antioxidant frequently studied for its beneficial properties. Moreover, a wide range of dietary supplements are available for human use.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCompartmentation of the immune response into 3 main spatial cancer-immune phenotypes (SCIs) - inflamed, excluded, and desert - has been proposed as the main predictor of response to immune checkpoint inhibitors in solid tumors. The objective of the study was to define and characterize the SCI in a consecutive series of 213 endometrial carcinomas (ECs) by correlating it with molecular subtypes, clinicopathologic features, and prognosis. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) and next-generation sequencing were used to assign surrogate molecular EC subtypes: POLE mutant (POLE), mismatch repair deficient (MMRd), TP53 mutant (p53abn), and no specific molecular profile (NSMP).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Endometrial Cancer (EC) is strongly linked to obesity. Bariatric surgery is recognized as a long-term solution for weight loss in severely obese patients. This pilot study investigates the feasibility, intraoperative and 30-day morbidity outcomes of integrating gynecological surgical staging and bariatric robotic surgery in class II and III obese patients affected by early EC or Endometrial Intraepithelial Neoplasia (EIN).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStroke is a leading cause of death and severe disability worldwide. Rapid diagnosis is critical to ensure the timely administration of medical treatment. Given that in some cases CT scans fail to show the classic clinical signs of stroke, we aimed to evaluate the diagnostic capacity of adiponectin levels and their association with the clinical parameters of patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study aimed to investigate the efficacy and duration of multiple non-ablative intravaginal CO2 laser (V-lase) cycles in breast cancer patients, gynecological and other pelvic cancers previously subjected to multiple oncological treatments. This prospective study enrolled women under the age of 65 years who reported vaginal symptoms. Data on the Vaginal Health Index (VHI), vaginal length (VL), vaginal pain measured using a Visual Analog Scale (VAS), and the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) were collected at baseline and before each laser application, and at subsequent follow-up visits.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRetrograde axonal neurodegeneration along the visual pathway-either direct or trans-synaptic-has already been demonstrated in multiple sclerosis (MS), as well as in compressive, vascular, or posttraumatic lesions of the visual pathway. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) can noninvasively track macular and optic nerve changes occurring as a result of this phenomenon. Our paper aimed to review the existing literature regarding hemimacular atrophic changes in the ganglion cell layer identified using OCT examination in MS patients without prior history of optic neuritis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCaspases are key players in the apoptotic process and have been found to contribute to the pathogenesis of a variety of diseases, including neurological disorders such as ischemic stroke. This study aimed to investigate the serum levels of Caspase-3 in patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) and in control patients without ischemic events. Moreover, we explored any potential associations with the clinical outcomes of AIS.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCardiovascular diseases are the main cause of death in the world, with ischemic heart disease (i.e., myocardial infarction) and cerebrovascular disease (i.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The accurate discrimination of uterine leiomyosarcomas and leiomyomas in a pre-operative setting remains a current challenge. To date, the diagnosis is made by a pathologist on the excised tumor. The aim of this study was to develop a machine learning algorithm using radiomic data extracted from contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CECT) images that could accurately distinguish leiomyosarcomas from leiomyomas.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe early diagnosis of acute ischemic stroke (AIS) can be challenging in cases presenting with a scarcity of clinical signs, normal cerebral imaging in early stages and a lack of specific serum markers. Thrombomodulin has been shown to be associated with cerebrovascular ischemic events and can be considered an important biomarker for the acute onset of ischemic stroke. In our study, we compared the serum levels of thrombomodulin (sTM) between a relevant patient group of 70 AIS patients and a control group of patients without AIS admitted into the neurology department between June 2022 and May 2023.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEndometrial cancer (EC) is the most prevalent gynecological cancer in high-income countries. Its incidence is skyrocketing due to the increase in risk factors such as obesity, which represents a true pandemic. This study aimed to evaluate microRNA (miRNA) expression in obesity-related EC to identify potential associations between this specific cancer type and obesity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Aims: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a growing global concern with an increasing incidence rate. The intestinal microbiota has been identified as a potential culprit in modulating the effects of antitumoral drugs. We aimed to assess the impact of adding Lactobacillus rhamnosus probiotic to regorafenib in mice with HCC.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Current prognostic models lack the use of pre-operative CT images to predict recurrence in endometrial cancer (EC) patients. Our study aimed to investigate the potential of radiomic features extracted from pre-surgical CT scans to accurately predict disease-free survival (DFS) among EC patients.
Methods: Contrast-Enhanced CT (CE-CT) scans from 81 EC cases were used to extract the radiomic features from semi-automatically contoured volumes of interest.
Objective: Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) represents a treatment option in patients with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer (AEOC) who are not good candidates for primary debulking surgery. Usually, 3 cycles of chemotherapy before surgery have been considered the best option for patient survival, although quite often some patients receive more than 3 cycles. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to identify the optimal number of NACT cycles reporting better survival in AEOC patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The optimal number of neoadjuvant chemotherapy cycles in patients with advanced ovarian cancer is still disputed.
Objective: To evaluate the impact of the number of neoadjuvant chemotherapy cycles and role of optimal cytoreduction on the prognosis of patients with advanced ovarian cancer.
Methods: Clinical and pathological details were examined.
Background: Metabolic reprogramming is a well-known marker of cancer, and it represents an early event during hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development. The recent approval of several molecular targeted agents has revolutionized the management of advanced HCC patients. Nevertheless, the lack of circulating biomarkers still affects patient stratification to tailored treatments.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIron dysmetabolism affects a great proportion of heart failure patients, while chronic hypertension is one of the most common risk factors for heart failure and death in industrialized countries. Serum data from reduced ejection fraction heart failure patients show a relative or absolute iron deficiency, whereas cellular myocardial analyses field equivocal data. An observed increase in organellar iron deposits was incriminated to cause reactive oxygen species formation, lipid peroxidation, and cell death.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: The management of vulvar cancer recurrences is complicated by patients' advanced age and comorbidities. Bleomycin-based electrochemotherapy is a potential treatment option in this setting. However, no data on long-term outcomes are available.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDrug-induced cardiotoxicity is a life-threatening side effect of doxorubicin (DOX) treatment that impacts patient prognosis and survival. In the majority of cases, the acute clinical form often remains asymptomatic, with few patients presenting rather nonspecific electrocardiographic abnormalities. While chronic toxicity has been more widely studied, the alterations appearing in acute cardiotoxicity are much less investigated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnticancer strategies aimed at inhibiting Complex I of the mitochondrial respiratory chain are increasingly being attempted in solid tumors, as functional oxidative phosphorylation is vital for cancer cells. Using ovarian cancer as a model, we show that a compensatory response to an energy crisis induced by Complex I genetic ablation or pharmacological inhibition is an increase in the mitochondrial biogenesis master regulator PGC1α, a pleiotropic coactivator of transcription regulating diverse biological processes within the cell. We associate this compensatory response to the increase in PGC1α target gene expression, setting the basis for the comprehension of the molecular pathways triggered by Complex I inhibition that may need attention as drawbacks before these approaches are implemented in ovarian cancer care.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEndometrial cancer is the most common gynecological malignancy of the female reproductive organs. Historically it was divided into type I and type II, until 2013 when the Cancer Genome Atlas molecular classification was proposed. Here, we applied the different classification types on our endometrial cancer patient cohort in order to identify the most predictive one.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWhile somatic disruptive mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations that severely affect the respiratory chain are counter-selected in most human neoplasms, they are the genetic hallmark of indolent oncocytomas, where they appear to contribute to reduce tumorigenic potential. A correlation between mtDNA mutation type and load, and the clinical outcome of a tumor, corroborated by functional studies, is currently lacking. Recurrent familial oncocytomas are extremely rare entities, and they offer the chance to investigate the determinants of oncocytic transformation and the role of both germline and somatic mtDNA mutations in cancer.
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