The descriptive epidemiology of melanoma in Italy has changed - for the better.

A recent research project using data from a total of 40 cancer registries has provided new epidemiologic insights into the results of efforts for melanoma control in Italy between the 1990s and the last decade. In this article, the authors present a summary and a commentary of their findings. Incidence increased significantly throughout the study period in both sexes.

A Descriptive Study of Repeated Hospitalizations and Survival of Patients with Metastatic Melanoma in the Northern Italian Region during 2004-2019.

Background: Survival rates for metastatic melanoma (MM) patients have improved in recent years, leading to major expenses and health resource use. We conducted a non-concurrent prospective study to describe the burden of hospitalization in a real-world setting for patients with MM.

Methods: Patients were tracked throughout all hospital stays in 2004-2019 by means of hospital discharges.

New York Heart Association class and pulmonary artery pressure as prognostic factors of interstitial lung disease survival.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate New York Heart Association (NYHA) class and systolic pulmonary artery pressure (sPAP) as survival predictors in major interstitial lung diseases (ILD) including idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), non-specific interstitial pneumonia (NSIP) and hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP) and in other ILD like granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA).

Patients And Methods: We analyzed survival, NYHA class, sPAP, and Octreoscan uptake index (UI) in 104 ILD patients (59 IPF, 19 NSIP, 10 HP and 16 GPA; median age 60.5 years) all referred to a single centre.

A Meta-Analysis of Endoscopic Stenting Versus Surgical Treatment for Malignant Gastric Outlet Obstruction.

Background And Aim: Surgical gastrojejunostomy (GJJ) and endoscopic stenting (ES) are the two most available treatments for palliation of malignant gastric obstruction (MGOO). The aim of this study is to compare these two techniques regarding efficacy, safety, time of hospitalization and survival.

Methods: We performed a literature search from January 2010 to September 2020 to identify available randomized controlled studies and observational studies that compared ES and GJJ for the treatment of MGOO.

Serum Extracellular Vesicle-Derived microRNAs as Potential Biomarkers for Pleural Mesothelioma in a European Prospective Study.

Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is an aggressive cancer with a dismal prognosis. Early therapeutic interventions could improve patient outcomes. We aimed to identify a pattern of microRNAs (miRNAs) as potential early non-invasive markers of MPM.

Descriptive Epidemiology of Hospitalization of Patients with a Rare Tumor in an Italian Region.

Objectives: Rare tumors (RT) collectively account for one quarter of all malignancies in Italy. The low frequency and the large heterogeneity in natural history and outcome of individual diseases, together with a scarcity of epidemiological information make them a challenge for clinical practice, as well as for public healthcare organizations. We conducted a retrospective study to quantify the burden of hospitalization in a real-word setting in patients diagnosed with these diseases in an Italian region.

Cap-assisted EMR versus standard inject and cut EMR for treatment of large colonic laterally spreading tumors: a randomized multicenter study (with videos).

Background And Aims: Piecemeal EMR of colorectal laterally spreading tumors (LSTs) >20 mm is effective. Experience is limited in the use of cap-assisted EMR (EMR-C) for resection of colonic lesions. We compared the efficacy and the safety of EMR-C for the removal of colonic LSTs ≥30 mm with "inject-and-cut" standard EMR (EMR-S).

Antibody Response to COVID-19 mRNA Vaccines in Oncologic and Hematologic Patients Undergoing Chemotherapy.

Background: Information on immune responses in cancer patients following mRNA COVID-19 vaccines is still insufficient, but generally, patients had impaired serological responses, especially those with hematological malignancies. We evaluated serological response to COVID-19 mRNA vaccine in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy compared with healthy controls.

Methods: In total, 195 cancer patients and 400 randomly selected controls who had been administered a Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna COVID-19 vaccines in two doses were compared.

Excess risk of subsequent malignant neoplasms in adolescent and young adult cancer survivors: Results from the first Italian population-based cohort.

Background: Evidence about late effects in adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer survivors is scarce. This study assessed the risk of subsequent malignant neoplasms (SMNs) to identify the most common SMNs to be considered in follow-up care.

Methods: Population-based cancer registries retrospectively identified first primary tumors (between 1976 and 2013) and SMNs in AYAs (15-39 years old at their cancer diagnosis).

Liquid Biopsies from Pleural Effusions and Plasma from Patients with Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma: A Feasibility Study.

Background: Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a fatal tumor with a poor prognosis. The recent developments of liquid biopsies could provide novel diagnostic and prognostic tools in oncology. However, there is limited information about the feasibility of this technique for MPMs.

A new designed self-expandable metal stent for the management of benign radiotherapy-induced hypopharyngeal or cervical esophageal strictures.

Background And Aims: The management of patients with hypopharyngeal or cervical esophageal refractory benign strictures (RBS) after surgery and radiotherapy ± chemotherapy for laryngeal cancer is challenging. We aimed to assess the long-term efficacy and safety of a new designed fully covered SEMS in these patients.

Methods: We reviewed the results of a prospectively collected database of 40 consecutive patients with dysphagia due to RBS of the cervical esophagus or hypopharynx after surgery and radiotherapy with or without chemotherapy for laryngeal cancer, unfit for surgery, referred in two tertiary-care endoscopic centers from June 2005 to December 2018.

Palliation of malignant esophageal obstruction using an anti-migration self-expandable metal stent: Results of a prospective multicenter study.

Background: Self-expanding metal stents (SEMS) placement is primarily indicated to palliate dysphagia for patients with expected short-term survival. We aimed to assess the migration rate and other stent-related adverse events (AEs) of a fully covered SEMS with an anti-migration system (FCSEMS-AMS) for palliation of malignant dysphagia.

Methods: This is a prospective study including patients with inoperable esophageal cancer that received a FCSEMS-AMS (Taewoong, Niti-S Beta™), in five tertiary-care endoscopic centers from January 2014 to February 2016.

Effectiveness and Safety of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors for Patients with Advanced Non Small-Cell Lung Cancer in Real-World: Review and Meta-Analysis.

Immunotherapy based on anti PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors is the new standard of advanced non-small cell lung cancers. Pembrolizumab, nivolumab and atezolizumab are used in clinical practice. The strict eligibility criteria of clinical trials do not allow researchers to fully represent treatment effects in the patients that will ultimately use these drugs.

Mid-term trends and recent birth-cohort-dependent changes in incidence rates of cutaneous malignant melanoma in Italy.

In Oceania, North America and north-western Europe, after decades of increase, cutaneous malignant melanoma (CMM) rates began to stabilise or decline before 2000. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the reversal of the incidence trend is extending to southern Europe. To obtain a formal confirmation, this nationwide study from Italy investigated the incidence trends by birth cohort.

Dietary Habits and Risk of Esophagitis and Barrett's Esophagus: A Multicenter Italian Case-Control Study.

Background: Barrett's esophagus (BE) and esophagitis share potentially modifiable risk factors such as obesity, smoking, and alcohol. The role of diet on BE and esophagitis is still debated.

Aims: The objective of this study was to examine the association between some dietary habits and the risk of BE and esophagitis in Italy.

Impact of Rhabdomyosarcoma Treatment Modalities by Age in a Population-Based Setting.

Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) has a worse prognosis in adults than in children, but there is evidence of a better outcome in the former if treated using a pediatric-like approach. This study describes treatment for RMS in patients more than 10 years old and examines to what extent treatment contributes to explain the different age-related survival observed and to what extent treatment centers impact treatment appropriateness. A retrospective population-based study was developed considering 104 RMS cases (excluding the pleomorphic subtype) diagnosed in Italy between 2000 and 2015.

Epidemiology and biological characteristics of male breast cancer in Italy.

Aim: To evaluate the epidemiology of male breast cancer (MBC) in Italy and to describe incidence and survival data in relation to age, morphology, year of incidence, geographic area, and possible association with other cancers compared with female BC.

Methods: Cases were extracted from 40 Italian Cancer Registries. Standardized incidence rates (SIR), age-specific rates, and 5-year survival were calculated.

Effects of different doses of erythropoietin in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes: A propensity score-matched analysis.

Background: Erythropoiesis-stimulating agents effectively improve the hemoglobin levels in a fraction of anemic patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). Higher doses (HD) of recombinant human erythropoietin (rhEPO) have been proposed to overcome suboptimal response rates observed in MDS patients treated with lower "standard doses" (SD) of rhEPO. However, a direct comparison between the different doses of rhEPO is lacking.

Neoadjuvant therapy for breast cancer.

Objective: To evaluate the frequency of neoadjuvant therapy (NT) in women with stage I-III breast cancer in Italy and whether it is influenced by biological characteristics, screening history, and geographic area.

Methods: Data from the High Resolution Study conducted in 7 Italian cancer registries were used; they are a representative sample of incident cancers in the study period (2009-2013). Included were 3546 women aged <85 years (groups <50, 50-69, 70-64, and 75+) with stage I-III breast cancer at diagnosis who underwent surgery.

Prognosis and cure of long-term cancer survivors: A population-based estimation.

Background: Increasing evidence of cure for some neoplasms has emerged in recent years. The study aimed to estimate population-based indicators of cancer cure.

Methods: Information on more than half a million cancer patients aged 15-74 years collected by population-based Italian cancer registries and mixture cure models were used to estimate the life expectancy of fatal tumors (LEFT), proportions of patients with similar death rates of the general population (cure fraction), and time to reach 5-year conditional relative survival (CRS) >90% or 95% (time to cure).

The role of CEA, CYFRA21-1 and NSE in monitoring tumor response to Nivolumab in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients.

Background: CEA, CYFRA21-1 and NSE are tumor markers used for monitoring the response to chemotherapy in advanced adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and small-cell lung cancer, respectively. Their role in cancer immunotherapy needs to be elucidated.

Methods: Patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) were treated with nivolumab 3 mg/kg every 2 weeks within the Italian Nivolumab Expanded Access Program.

Covered versus uncovered self-expandable metal stent for palliation of primary malignant extrahepatic biliary strictures: a randomized multicenter study.

Background And Aims: Self-expandable metal stents (SEMSs) are used to relieve malignant biliary obstructions. We aimed to compare stent patency, the adverse events rate, and overall survival of covered versus uncovered self-conformable metal stents in patients with primary malignant extrahepatic biliary strictures, not eligible for surgery.

Methods: This is a multicenter randomized trial analyzing 158 patients with inoperable distal malignant biliary obstruction conducted in 5 Italian referral centers between December 2014 and October 2016.