Circulating immune cell populations related to primary breast cancer, surgical removal, and radiotherapy revealed by flow cytometry analysis.

Background: Advanced breast cancer (BC) impact immune cells in the blood but whether such effects may reflect the presence of early BC and its therapeutic management remains elusive.

Methods: To address this question, we used multiparametric flow cytometry to analyze circulating leukocytes in patients with early BC (n = 13) at the time of diagnosis, after surgery, and after adjuvant radiotherapy, compared to healthy individuals. Data were analyzed using a minimally supervised approach based on FlowSOM algorithm and validated manually.

Conjunctival MALT lymphoma: utility of FDG PET/CT for diagnosis, staging, and evaluation of treatment response.

A 67-year-old woman was referred for staging of a mucosa-associated lymphoid tumor lymphoma involving the left conjunctiva. CT scan had shown paravertebral and pelvic masses, and a breast nodule. FDG PET/CT demonstrated moderately increased uptake in the left ocular conjunctiva and confirmed the paravertebral and pelvic masses and the breast nodule.

Hormonal therapies in young breast cancer patients: when, what and for how long?

Breast cancer in young women (<40 years) is a rare and complex clinical and psychosocial condition, which deserves multidisciplinary and personalized approaches. In young women with hormone-receptor positive disease, 5 years of adjuvant tamoxifen, with or without ovarian suppression/ablation, is considered the standard endocrine therapy. The definitive role of adjuvant aromatase inhibitors has still to be elucidated: the upcoming results of the Tamoxifen and EXemestane Trial (TEXT) and Suppression of Ovarian Function Trial (SOFT) trials will help understanding if we can widen our current endocrine therapeutic options.

Practical aspects of genetic counseling in breast cancer: lights and shadows.

In unselected populations, less than 10% of breast cancers are associated with germline mutations in predisposing genes. Breast cancer type 1 and 2 (BRCA1 and BRCA2) susceptibility genes are the most common involved genes and confer a 10-30 times higher risk of developing the disease compared to the general population. A personal or family history suggestive of inherited breast cancer syndrome may be further evaluated to assess the risk of genetic predisposition and the presence of a genetic mutation.

Phase I clinical and pharmacokinetic study of trabectedin and cisplatin given every three weeks in patients with advanced solid tumors.

The aim of this phase I study was to identify a feasible dose and schedule for the combination of cisplatin and trabectedin. The regimen evaluated consisted of cisplatin at a fixed dose of 75 mg/m(2) 1-hour intravenous (i.v.

Fertility after breast cancer.

Breast cancer is the most common tumor in childbearing women. In the last decades, considerable improvement in breast cancer-related death has been achieved with adjuvant therapies (chemotherapy, endocrine and targeted therapies, radiotherapy) but at cost of significant long-term sequels, including infertility. Reproductive issues are of great importance to young women, in particular for those who did not complete their families before breast cancer diagnosis: patients should be adequately informed at the time of diagnosis about the risk of infertility and the available methods for fertility preservation.

Hepatitis C virus and GBV-C virus prevalence among patients with B-cell lymphoma in different European regions: a case-control study of the International Extranodal Lymphoma Study Group.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is associated with some B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (B cell-NHLs). Patients with HCV infection frequently show co-infections with GB virus C (GBV-C, formerly known as hepatitis G virus), and some studies have suggested a higher incidence of GBV-C infection in patients with B cell-NHLs. The aim of this study was to prospectively evaluate the association between HCV and/or GBV-C infection and B cell-NHLs in different geographic areas.

Role of trabectedin in the treatment of soft tissue sarcoma.

Interest in marine natural products has allowed the discovery of new drugs and trabectedin (ET-743, Yondelis), derived from the marine tunicate Ecteinascidia turbinata, was approved for clinical use in 2007. It binds to the DNA minor groove leading to interferences with the intracellular transcription pathways and DNA-repair proteins. In vitro antitumor activity was demonstrated against various cancer cell lines and soft tissue sarcoma cell lines.

Treatment of advanced soft-tissue sarcomas using a combined strategy of high-dose ifosfamide, high-dose doxorubicin and salvage therapies.

Having determined in a phase I study the maximum tolerated dose of high-dose ifosfamide combined with high-dose doxorubicin, we now report the long-term results of a phase II trial in advanced soft-tissue sarcomas. Forty-six patients with locally advanced or metastatic soft-tissue sarcomas were included, with age <60 years and all except one in good performance status (0 or 1). The chemotherapy treatment consisted of ifosfamide 10 g m(-2) (continuous infusion for 5 days), doxorubicin 30 mg m(-2) day(-1) x 3 (total dose 90 mg m(-2)), mesna and granulocyte-colony stimulating factor.