A Prospective Randomized Multicenter Study on the Impact of [F]F-Choline PET/CT Versus Conventional Imaging for Staging Intermediate- to High-Risk Prostate Cancer.

This study aimed to compare the efficacy of [F]F-choline PET/CT with conventional imaging for staging and managing intermediate- to high-risk prostate cancer (PCa). The primary objective was to assess the ability of PET/CT with [F]F-choline to identify lymph node and systemic involvement during initial staging. Secondary objectives included evaluating the impact of [F]F-choline PET/CT on unnecessary local treatments and assessing the safety of [F]F-choline agents.

Artificial intelligence of imaging and clinical neurological data for predictive, preventive and personalized (P3) medicine for Parkinson Disease: The NeuroArtP3 protocol for a multi-center research study.

Background: The burden of Parkinson Disease (PD) represents a key public health issue and it is essential to develop innovative and cost-effective approaches to promote sustainable diagnostic and therapeutic interventions. In this perspective the adoption of a P3 (predictive, preventive and personalized) medicine approach seems to be pivotal. The NeuroArtP3 (NET-2018-12366666) is a four-year multi-site project co-funded by the Italian Ministry of Health, bringing together clinical and computational centers operating in the field of neurology, including PD.

Predict Treatment Response by Magnetic Resonance Diffusion Weighted Imaging: A Preliminary Study on 46 Meningiomas Treated with Proton-Therapy.

Objective: a considerable subgroup of meningiomas (MN) exhibit indolent and insidious growth. Strategies to detect earlier treatment responses based on tumour biology rather than on size can be useful. We aimed to characterize therapy-induced changes in the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) of MN treated with proton-therapy (PT), determining whether the pre- and early post-treatment ADC values may predict tumour response.

Detection rate of 18F-Choline positron emission tomography/computed tomography in patients with non-metastatic hormone sensitive and castrate resistant prostate cancer.

Background: To assess the detection rate of 18F-choline PET/CT in non-metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer (hsPCa) and non-metastatic castrate resistant prostate cancer (CRPCa), based on the criteria proposed in the phase III SPARTAN trial and with high Gleason Score (GS).

Methods: Between October 2008 and September 2019, data from a retrospective multicenter study (N.=4 centers), involving patients undergoing F-choline PET/CT scans for a biochemical recurrence of PCa, were collected.

Risk factors for nodal involvement in early-stage rectal cancer: a new scoring system based on the analysis of 326 cases.

Background: the purpose of this study was to identify which clinicopathological features of early-stage rectal cancer (ESRC) are significantly correlated with the risk of local-regional lymph node metastases (LNM) and to quantify the strength of this association through a novel scoring system. According to several case studies, about 20% of operated ESRC are found with occult lymph nodal metastases at the histological examination. The low frequency of local recurrence in these tumors treated with total mesorectal excision (TME) compared to transanal approaches highlights the role of mesorectal lymph nodes as a site of metastatic location.

Sequencing Life-Prolonging Agents in Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer Patients: Comparison of Sequences With and Without Ra.

The retrospective studies that have so far described the outcomes of the sequential use of life-prolonging agents (LPAs) did not include metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) patients who received radium-223 (Ra) as part of their treatment. Consequently, it is not known whether including Ra in the therapeutic sequence has an impact on cumulative survival. The aim of this study was to evaluate this impact by comparing the cumulative overall survival (OS) in two series of mCRPC patients sequentially treated with two or three LPAs after first-line docetaxel (DOC), including Ra and not.

Usefulness of 18f-FDG PET-CT in Staging, Restaging, and Response Assessment in Pediatric Rhabdomyosarcoma.

Rhabdomyosarcoma is the most common soft-tissue sarcoma of childhood. Despite clinical advances, subsets of these patients continue to suffer high morbidity and mortality rates associated with their disease. Following the European guidelines for F-FDG PET and PET-CT imaging in pediatric oncology, the routine use of F-FDG PET-CT may be useful for patients affected by rhabdomyosarcoma, in staging, in the evaluation of response to therapy, and for restaging/detection of relapse.

Cerebral abscesses imaging: A practical approach.

Brain abscesses (BAs) are focal infections of the central nervous system (CNS) that start as a localised area of weakening of the brain parenchyma (cerebritis) and develops into a collection of pus surrounded by a capsule. Pyogenic (bacterial) BAs represent the majority of all BAs; in some cases, the diagnostic and therapeutic management can be challenging. Imaging has a primary role in differentiating BAs from other lesions.

Unusual diagnostic findings in temporal lobe epilepsy: A combined MRI and F-dopa case study.

Temporal lobe epilepsy is the most common focal epilepsy in adults and often causes pharmacoresistant seizures. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and PET studies have widely demonstrated a number of morphological and molecular abnormalities in epilepsy. However, considering the dopaminergic system, only a bilateral F-DOPA uptake reduction within the basal ganglia has been described.

Correction to: Predictive and prognostic value of F-DOPA PET/CT in patients affected by recurrent medullary carcinoma of the thyroid.

The following affiliation should be added to the authors Agostino Chiaravalloti and Orazio Schillaci.

Treatment with combined dabrafenib and trametinib in -mutated metastatic malignant melanoma: a case of long-term complete response after treatment cessation.

Here, we report the case of a patient, diagnosed with -mutated metastatic malignant melanoma M1a, who achieved a complete metabolic response after 7 months of treatment with the combination of dabrafenib and trametinib. After 31 months, the treatment was interrupted for patient's decision. To date October 2017, 18 months after the interruption of the treatment with the combination of dabrafenib and trametinib, follow-up Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scans are still documenting complete metabolic response.

Predictive and prognostic value of 18F-DOPA PET/CT in patients affected by recurrent medullary carcinoma of the thyroid.

Introduction: Medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) is a malignancy accounting for about 5-8% of thyroid cancers. Serum calcitonin and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) levels are widely used to monitor disease progression. However, prognostic factors able to predict outcomes are highly desirable.

Sentinel Node in Oral Cancer: The Nuclear Medicine Aspects. A Survey from the Sentinel European Node Trial.

Purpose: Nuclear imaging plays a crucial role in lymphatic mapping of oral cancer. This evaluation represents a subanalysis of the original multicenter SENT trial data set, involving 434 patients with T1-T2, N0, and M0 oral squamous cell carcinoma. The impact of acquisition techniques, tracer injection timing relative to surgery, and causes of false-negative rate were assessed.

Early impact of robot-assisted partial nephrectomy on renal function as assessed by renal scintigraphy.

To measure the early impact of robot-assisted partial nephrectomy (RAPN) on renal function as assessed by renal scan (Tc 99m-DTPA), addressing the issue of risk factors for ischemic damage to the kidney. All patients undergoing RAPN for cT1 renal masses between June 2013 and May 2014 were included in this prospective study. Renal function as expressed by glomerular filtration rate (GFR) was assessed by Technetium 99m-diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (Tc 99m-DTPA) renal scan preoperatively and postoperatively at 1 month in every patient.

Serial 18F-choline-PET imaging in patients receiving enzalutamide for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer: response assessment and imaging biomarkers.

Aim: High rate of non-target lesions in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer usually limits applicability of Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) criteria, and this has led to a growing interest in using PET/computed tomography (CT). We prospectively investigated the role of (18)F-choline (FCH)-PET/CT in patients receiving enzalutamide after docetaxel.

Patients & Methods: 30 patients were monitored by means of FCH-PET/CT before and during the treatment.

Sentinel European Node Trial (SENT): 3-year results of sentinel node biopsy in oral cancer.

Purpose: Optimum management of the N0 neck is unresolved in oral cancer. Sentinel node biopsy (SNB) can reliably detect microscopic lymph node metastasis. The object of this study was to establish whether the technique was both reliable in staging the N0 neck and a safe oncological procedure in patients with early-stage oral squamous cell carcinoma.

Impact of enzalutamide administration on primary prostate cancer volume: a metabolic evaluation by choline positron emission tomography in castration-resistant prostate cancer patients.

Background: Enzalutamide is active in advanced castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) patients, in whom it has shown to be able to increase survival. We report the enzalutamide effect on primary prostate tumors, assessed by changes of metabolic tumor activity detected by (18)F-fluorocholine-positron emission tomography/computerized tomography ((18)F-FCH PET/CT).

Patients And Methods: We treated 31 patients with pretreated metastatic CRPC in an enzalutamide named-patient program.

The endemic paraganglioma syndrome type 1: origin, spread, and clinical expression.

Context: Anecdotal evidence suggests a high incidence in Trentino, Italy, of head and neck paragangliomas (HNPGL), a rare autosomal dominant disease called paraganglioma type 1 syndrome and caused by germ-line mutations of the SDHD gene.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the origin, spread, and clinical expression of the disease in this geographic region.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Trentino natives with HNPGL were recruited for establishing clinical expression of the disease, presence of a founder effect, and age of common ancestor.

Implications of a positive sentinel node in oral squamous cell carcinoma.

Background: The role of sentinel node biopsy in head and neck cancer is currently being explored. Patients with positive sentinel nodes were investigated to establish if additional metastases were present in the neck, their distribution, and their impact on outcome.

Methods: In all, 109 patients (n = 109) from 15 European centers, with cT1/2,N0 tumors, and a positive sentinel lymph node were identified.

Clinical considerations on sentinel node biopsy in melanoma from an Italian multicentric study on 1,313 patients (SOLISM-IMI).

Background: Although widely used for the management of patients with cutaneous melanoma, the sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy (SNB) procedure raises several issues. This study was designed to investigate: the predictive factors of SLN status, the false-negative (FN) rate, and patients' prognosis after SNB.

Patients And Methods: This is an observational, prospective study conducted on a large series of consecutive patients (n = 1,313) enrolled by 23 Italian centers from 2000 through 2002.

The impact of lymphoscintigraphy technique on the outcome of sentinel node biopsy in 1,313 patients with cutaneous melanoma: an Italian Multicentric Study (SOLISM-IMI).

Unlabelled: An observational multicentric Italian trial on sentinel node biopsy (SNB) in melanoma patients was performed to diffuse a common SNB protocol nationwide (Italy). We report herein the results of this trial. The influence of some technical aspects on the outcome of SNB was also investigated, because a certain degree of variability was accepted in performing lymphoscintigraphy.