RNA-Based Next-Generation Sequencing in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer patients: data from Campania, Italy.

Objective: ALK, ROS1, NTRK, and RET gene fusions and MET exon 14 skipping alterations represent fundamental predictive biomarkers for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients to ensure the best treatment choice. In this scenario, RNA-based NGS approach has emerged as an extremely useful tool for detecting these alterations. In this study, we report our NGS molecular records on ALK, ROS1, NTRK, and RET gene fusions and MET exon 14 skipping alterations detected by using a narrow RNA-based NGS panel, namely SiRe fusion.

Immune-Checkpoint Inhibitor-Related Myocarditis: Where We Are and Where We Will Go.

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are specific monoclonal antibodies directed against inhibitory targets of the immune system, mainly represented by programmed death-1 (PD1) ligand-1 (PD-L1) and cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen-4 (CTLA-4), thus enabling an amplified T-cell-mediated immune response against cancer cells. These drugs have significantly improved prognosis in patients with advanced metastatic cancer (e.g.

Look at This Swelling: Retroauricular Mass as Atypical Progression in Long-Survivor Endometrial Endometrioid Adenocarcinoma.

Endometrial endometrioid adenocarcinoma is the most common histology in gynecological malignancies. Most women present loco-regional relapsing or peritoneal and liver involvement within three years from diagnosis. However long-survivor patients may be affected by atypical disease evolutions.

Combination of immunotherapy, radiotherapy and denosumab as the best approach even for NSCLC poor prognosis patients: a case report with strong response, prolonged survival and a review of literature.

Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) with bone metastasis and poor performance status has the worst prognosis even in strong PD-L1 expression patients. Treatment approach includes immuno- or chemo-immunotherapy, Radiotherapy (RT) and Bone-Targeted Therapy (BTT) but there is insufficient data to suggest the best time to use each of them, alone or in combination. Using an integrated and synergistic treatment strategy with immunotherapy, radiotherapy, and Denosumab as BTT is probably the best treatment planning for metastatic NSCLC for both good and poor performance status patients, although more data are needed to confirm this approach.

Overcoming immune-resistance in laryngeal cancer: a case report of the abscopal effect and nivolumab beyond progression.

The abscopal effect is defined as the systemic regression of distant neoplastic lesions induced by localized treatment. Although the first case reports date back to the beginning of the twentieth century, it remains a very rare event. In recent years, research and reporting on the subject has increased thanks to the development of new immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) and stereotactic body radiotherapy, as a consequence of molecular and clinical synergism.

Evans Syndrome Presenting as an Atypical Complication of SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has drastically affected our daily lives, causing millions of deaths worldwide. The early and late complications of this infection are being increasingly revealed on a regular basis; however, an important brake on the spread and especially the lethality of the disease has been guaranteed by the introduction of mRNA-based and viral vector-based COVID-19 Vaccines. Also, an increasing number of adverse effects of the vaccination have been reported to specific pharmacovigilance boards, most of them totally non-serious events that are resolved within one to three days after the administration of the vaccine.

Novel Therapeutic Opportunities in Neoadjuvant Setting in Urothelial Cancers: A New Horizon Opened by Molecular Classification and Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors.

Muscle invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) is a widespread malignancy with a worse prognosis often related to a late diagnosis. For early-stage MIBC pts, a multidisciplinary approach is mandatory to evaluate the timing of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) and surgery. The current standard therapy is platinum-based NAC (MVAC-methotrexate, vinblastine, doxorubicin, and cisplatin or Platinum-Gemcitabine regimens) followed by radical cystectomy (RC) with lymphadenectomy.

Impact of COVID-19 outbreak on cancer immunotherapy in Italy: a survey of young oncologists.

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has overwhelmed the health systems worldwide. Data regarding the impact of COVID-19 on cancer patients (CPs) undergoing or candidate for immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are lacking. We depicted the practice and adaptations in the management of patients with solid tumors eligible or receiving ICIs during the COVID-19 pandemic, with a special focus on Campania region.

Indoor Air Quality Levels in Schools: Role of Student Activities and No Activities.

This work describes a methodology for the definition of indoor air quality monitoring plans in schools and above all to improve the knowledge and evaluation of the indoor concentration levels of some chemical pollutants. The aim is to guide interventions to improve the health of students and exposed staff connected with the activities carried out there. The proposed methodology is based on the simultaneous study of chemical (indoor/outdoor PM, NO, CO) and physical (temperature, humidity) parameters by means of automatic analyzers coupled with gaseous compounds (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes, formaldehyde and NO) sampled by denuders.

Short-term monitoring of benzene air concentration in an urban area: a preliminary study of application of Kruskal-Wallis non-parametric test to assess pollutant impact on global environment and indoor.

In step with the need to develop statistical procedures to manage small-size environmental samples, in this work we have used concentration values of benzene (C6H6), concurrently detected by seven outdoor and indoor monitoring stations over 12 000 minutes, in order to assess the representativeness of collected data and the impact of the pollutant on indoor environment. Clearly, the former issue is strictly connected to sampling-site geometry, which proves critical to correctly retrieving information from analysis of pollutants of sanitary interest. Therefore, according to current criteria for network-planning, single stations have been interpreted as nodes of a set of adjoining triangles; then, a) node pairs have been taken into account in order to estimate pollutant stationarity on triangle sides, as well as b) node triplets, to statistically associate data from air-monitoring with the corresponding territory area, and c) node sextuplets, to assess the impact probability of the outdoor pollutant on indoor environment for each area.

A three year study on 14 VOCs at one site in Rome: levels, seasonal variations, indoor/outdoor ratio and temporal trends.

Fourteen volatile organic compounds (VOCs)-twelve hydrocarbons and two organochlorine compounds-were monitored both outdoors and indoors for three years at one site in Rome. Results showed that 118 out of 168 indoor seasonal mean values were higher than the corresponding outdoor concentrations. The most relevant source of outdoor hydrocarbons was automotive exhaust emissions.

Correction: Fuselli, et al. A Three Year Study on 14 VOCs at One Site in Rome: Levels, Seasonal Variations, Indoor / Outdoor Ratio and Temporal Trends. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2010, 7, 3792-3803.

[This corrects the article on p. 3792 in vol. 7.

Investigation of indoor air volatile organic compounds concentration levels in dental settings and some related methodological issues.

The assessment of indoor air volatile organic compounds (VOCs) concentration levels in dental settings has a big health relevance for the potentially massive occupational exposure to a lot of diverse contaminants. The comparison of the VOCs profile relative to indoor conditions and to the corresponding outdoor concentrations, as well as the discovery of possible correlations between specific dental activities and VOCs concentration variations are of utmost importance for offering a reliable characterization of risk for dentists and dental staff health. In this study we review the most relevant environmental studies addressing the VOCs contamination level in dental settings.

Unravelling the complexity of T cell abnormalities in common variable immunodeficiency.

We investigated several phenotypic and functional parameters of T cell-mediated immunity in a large series of common variable immunodeficiency (CVID) patients. We demonstrated that the vast majority of CVID patients presented multiple T cell abnormalities intimately related among them, the severity of which was reflected in a parallel loss of CD4+ naive T cells. A strong correlation between the number of CD4+ naive T cells and clinical features was observed, supporting the subgrouping of patients according to their number of naive CD4+ T lymphocytes.

Pyrimethamine (2,4-diamino-5-p-chlorophenyl-6-ethylpyrimidine) induces apoptosis of freshly isolated human T lymphocytes, bypassing CD95/Fas molecule but involving its intrinsic pathway.

Pyrimethamine (2,4-diamino-5-p-chlorophenyl-6-ethyl-pyrimidine), a folic acid antagonist, may exert, in addition to antiprotozoan effects, immunomodulating activities, including induction of peripheral blood lymphocyte apoptosis. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying this proapoptotic activity remain to be elucidated. Here we show that pyrimethamine, used at a pharmacologically relevant concentration, induced per se apoptosis of activated lymphocytes via the activation of the caspase-8- and caspase-10-dependent cascade and subsequent mitochondrial depolarization.