Monitoring of thermal treatment by linearly chirped fiber Bragg grating sensors: feasibility assessment during laser ablation on ex vivo liver.

In this work a spatially-resolved fiber optic temperature sensor has been characterized in a wide range of gradient applied on its active area (from -35 °C to +35 °C). Preliminary experiments to assess its feasibility for application in laser ablation have been performed. The sensor under test is a linearly chirped fiber Bragg grating (FBG), with 1.

Temperature monitoring during radiofrequency ablation of liver: in vivo trials.

Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is a minimally invasive procedure used to treat tumors by means of hyperthermia, mostly through percutaneous approach. The tissue temperature plays a pivotal role in the achievement of the target volume heating, while sparing the surrounding healthy tissue from thermal damage. Several techniques for thermometry during RFA are investigated, most of them based on the use of single-point measurement system (e.

Adaptation and validation of an Italian version of the Prostate Cancer Specific Quality of Life Instrument (PROSQOLI).

Objective: The Prostate Cancer Specific Quality of Life Instrument (PROSQOLI) is a measure of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in advanced hormone-resistant prostate cancer. In this study, we aimed at performing a cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the Italian version of the PROSQOLI.

Patients And Methods: The original version of the PROSQOLI underwent several turnarounds of translations.

Indications and organisational methods for autologous blood transfusion procedures in Italy: results of a national survey.

Introduction: Pre-operative donation of autologous blood is a practice that is now being abandoned. Alternative methods of transfusing autologous blood, other than predeposited blood, do however play a role in limiting the need for transfusion of allogeneic blood. This survey of autologous blood transfusion practices, promoted by the Italian Society of Transfusion Medicine and Immunohaematology more than 2 years after the publication of national recommendations on the subject, was intended to acquire information on the indications for predeposit in Italy and on some organisational aspects of the alternative techniques of autotransfusion.

Plant extracts in BPH.

In Italy plant extracts represent 8.6% of all pharmacological prescriptions for Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (data from 1991). This review evaluates all the suggested mechanisms of action for plant extracts.

Pathology of BPH.

Much research has been conducted to determine which tissue (epithelium or stroma) in the prostate gives rise to benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Considering that BPH displays two structural compartments, stromal and epithelial and that the periurethral and transitional regions are particularly involved, the immunohistochemical and regional evaluation of steroid receptors concentration, 5 alpha reductase, DHT and estrogen activity, may show important data on the role of these factors in BPH development. We started a immunohistochemical study on the epidermal growth factor (EGF) concentrations in the periurethral, central and pericapsular zones of BPH samples, considering the stroma-epithelium ratio; investigations are performed on BPH patients submitted to transvesical prostatectomy.

The prognostic value of DNA content in patients with prostatic carcinoma.

In 80 patients with pathologically proven prostatic cancer, DNA content was correlated to grade, stage and survival. The survival curve and duration of response to therapy in these patients was examined. At the end of follow-up the cumulative survival curve in the aneuploid patients was 0.

Biological and clinical implication of cellular DNA content in renal cell carcinomas.

DNA flow cytometric analysis (FCM) was performed on surgical bioptic samples taken from 82 renal cell carcinomas. FCM has evidenced that 35% (29/82) of renal carcinomas resulted diploid, 65% (53/82) aneuploid and of the latter 22% (12/53) multiclonal. Our results do not indicate any relationship among cytometric ploidy, Fuhrman grading, Robson and pTNM staging.

New ultrasensitive assay development by using monoclonal antibodies for detecting prostate-specific antigen.

The Serono Maia Clone prostatic-specific antigen (PSA) kit incorporates an immunoradiometric assay for the measurement of PSA in the serum. The method can be used over a range of 0-100 ng/ml without dilution. Standard concentrations are 0, 0.

Evidence that Serenoa repens extract displays an antiestrogenic activity in prostatic tissue of benign prostatic hypertrophy patients.

A double-blind placebo-controlled study was performed in 35 benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH) patients never treated before. The patients were randomized into two groups, the 1st (18 cases) receiving Serenoa repens extract (160 mg t.d.

Phase I study of vincristine and escalating doses of etoposide.

A phase I trial of vincristine and etoposide was designed following the identification of a potentially synergistic antitumor effect in a murine model. The dose of vincristine was fixed (0.5 mg daily for 3 days).

Phase I study of high-dose cytosine arabinoside and etoposide in patients with advanced malignancies.

Cytosine arabinoside (ara-C) and etoposide (VP-16) display synergy in the laboratory. Twenty-six patients participated in a phase I study of high-dose ara-C in combination with VP-16. The dose of VP-16 was held constant at 50 mg/m2 as an intermittent infusion over 33 h; escalating doses of ara-C were given as infusions during hours 9-12 and 21-24.

Vinblastine infusion in non-Hodgkin's lymphomas: lack of total cross-resistance with vincristine.

Historically, vinblastine given by intravenous bolus injection has not been an effective treatment for non-Hodgkin's lymphomas; vincristine has displayed greater activity. Also, vinblastine has generally been considered to be cross-resistant with vincristine in such patients. In an attempt to overcome these obstacles, a protracted infusion of vinblastine was administered (0.

Recombinant gamma interferon in advanced breast cancer: a phase II trial.

Fifteen patients with advanced carcinoma of the breast who had failed prior chemotherapy, were treated with recombinant gamma interferon at a dose of 2mg/m2 (1mg = 2.4 X 10(7) international units) intravenously for five consecutive days every other week. The median patient age was 51 and all patients had a performance status of 0-2 (Karnofsky greater than or equal to 50).

A phase I trial of recombinant leukocyte alpha 2 interferon in patients with advanced malignancy.

Seventeen patients with advanced, previously treated malignancies were entered into a phase I trial utilizing recombinant DNA produced alpha 2 leukocyte interferon (rIFN-alpha 2). Sixteen patients were evaluable. Patients were to receive rIFN-alpha 2 by either the I.