Complementary Feeding in Italy: From Tradition to Innovation.

Complementary feeding (CF) is a pivotal phase of the individual's growth, during which children develops their future dietary habits. To date, only few studies investigated and compared weaning modalities between different geographical areas. The aim of this article is to describe the current Italian practice for CF in healthy term infants among different areas (North, Center, South) of Italy.

Hepatosplenic T-cell lymphoma with aberrant expression of serum β-HCG: a case report.

Background: Peripheral T-cell lymphomas (PTCL) represent a heterogeneous group of hematologic malignancies frequently presenting at advanced stage of diagnosis.

Methods: We report a case of PTCL with an uncommon and aggressive onset with disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC).

Results: Laboratory findings revealed an aberrant expression of β subunit of human chorionic gonadotropin (β-HCG).

Cardiovascular adverse events complicating the administration of rituximab: report of two cases.

Rituximab is a murine/human chimeric monoclonal antibody directed against the CD20 antigen. It is widely used in combination with polychemotherapy regimens for the treatment of hematological disorders. There is no evidence of direct cardiotoxicity of the drug but a few cases of cardiovascular adverse events have been reported in the literature.

Biological activity of lenalidomide in myelodysplastic syndromes with del5q: results of gene expression profiling from a multicenter phase II study.

In vitro studies suggest that haploinsufficiency is involved in the pathogenesis of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). In patients with del5q cytogenetic abnormality, RPS-14 and microRNAs (miRNAs) play a major role. In a multicenter phase II single-arm trial with lenalidomide in anemic primary del5q MDS patients with low- or int-1 risk IPSS, biological changes from baseline were investigated.

Quality of life and physicians' perception in myelodysplastic syndromes.

To detect factors associated with quality of life (QOL) of patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and to compare the MDS patients' self-assessed QOL with that perceived by their physicians. In an observational, non-interventional, prospective, multicentre study, QOL was evaluated in 148 patients with newly diagnosed low- and intermediate-risk IPSS MDS. QOL measures (QOL-E v.

Weekly standard doses of rh-EPO are highly effective for the treatment of anemic patients with low-intermediate 1 risk myelodysplastic syndromes.

For more than 20 years erythropoietin (rHEPO) has largely been used to treat anemia in myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). Early clinical trials showed erythroid responses in no more than 15-25% of patients. In the last decade, a better selection of MDS patients suitable for a therapeutic challenge with rHEPO, alone or in combination with G-CSF, allowed for an increased response-rate, averaging around 40%.

Polycythemia as rare secondary direct manifestation of acromegaly: management and single-centre epidemiological data.

Polycythemia associated with acromegaly is usually caused by the systemic manifestations of the disease, such as sleep-apnea or concomitant erythropoietin-secreting kidney tumors. The recognition of underlying pathologies requires a thorough diagnostic process. We report a unique case of acromegaly with polycythemia, not caused by commonly described manifestations of the disease, and receding with octreotide therapy.

Therapy of Hodgkin's lymphoma in clinical practice: A retrospective long-term follow-up analysis.

Treatment of Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) is perceived to be relatively straightforward. Consequently, patients are not usually referred to hemato-oncologically specialized centres and are treated locally instead. Comprehensive findings beyond prospective controlled trials are therefore lacking.

Potent synergistic interaction between the Nampt inhibitor APO866 and the apoptosis activator TRAIL in human leukemia cells.

Objective: The nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (Nampt) inhibitor APO866 depletes intracellular nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD(+)) and shows promising anticancer activity in preclinical studies. Tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) binds to plasma membrane receptors DR4 and DR5 and induces apoptosis via caspase-8 and -10. Here we have explored the interaction between APO866 and TRAIL in leukemia cell lines and in primary B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia cells.

Changes in RPS14 expression levels during lenalidomide treatment in Low- and Intermediate-1-risk myelodysplastic syndromes with chromosome 5q deletion.

Background: Haploinsufficiency of the ribosomal protein S14 RPS14 gene, located in the common deleted region of chromosome 5q, is a potential causal factor of 5q- syndrome. Lenalidomide elicits high response rates and morphological improvements in myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) patients with chromosome 5q deletion [del(5q)].

Methods: To further evaluate the role of RPS14, its transcription was tested in bone marrow cells from 17 patients with International Prognostic Scoring System defined Low- or Intermediate-1-risk MDS with del(5q) as a single or additional cytogenetic abnormality receiving treatment with lenalidomide.

Induction chemotherapy in head and neck cancer patients followed by concomitant docetaxel-based radiochemotherapy.

Concurrent chemoradiotherapy has become the standard of care for patients with inoperable squamous cell head and neck carcinoma. More recently, induction chemotherapy has been adopted as an approach in the management of these patients. We report the results of a phase II trial associating induction chemotherapy and concomitant chemoradiotherapy in a series of patients with inoperable squamous cell head and neck cancer.

Endothelial colony-forming cells from patients with chronic myeloproliferative disorders lack the disease-specific molecular clonality marker.

Two putative types of circulating endothelial progenitor cells have been recently identified in vitro: (1) endothelial colony-forming cell (ECFC) and (2) colony-forming unit-endothelial cell (CFU-EC). Only the former is now recognized to belong to endothelial lineage. We have used the ECFC and CFU-EC assays to readdress the issue of the clonal relation between endothelial progenitor cells and hematopoietic stem cells in patients with Philadelphia-positive and Philadelphia-negative chronic myeloproliferative disorders.

Purpura as the initial presentation for small-cell lung cancer.

Background: Causes of thrombocytopenia (TP) in patients affected by small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) include myelophtysis, immunomediated TP, disseminated intravascular coagulation, thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura, drug-related TP, and amegakaryocytic TP. However, isolated TP is an exceedingly rare presentation of SCLC.

Case Report: Here, we report on a 78-year-old Caucasian man with SCLC whose only clinic manifestation at the beginning of his clinical course was a diffuse purpuric rash, indeed due to severe isolated TP.

The addition of radiotherapy to chemotherapy does not improve outcome of early stage Hodgkin's lymphoma patients: a retrospective long-term follow-up analysis of a regional Italian experience.

We retrospectively reviewed 139 stage I-II HL patients who were diagnosed and followed up in an Italian northern region (Liguria) from 1995 to 2007, and who received either chemotherapy (CT) alone (mainly doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine; ABVD) or a combined modality treatment (chemotherapy + radiotherapy, CT + RT). The two therapeutic groups were comparable for clinical and histologic features. Complete remission rate after CT + RT was higher than what was achieved with CT alone (96% vs.

Predictors of mortality of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a disease with histological features corresponding to usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP), is a disorder of unknown cause. Not only it is the most common subtype of idiopathic interstitial pneumonias but it is also associated with the highest mortality rate. Despite a good number of studies investigating the mortality of patients with UIP the prognostic factors that have been studied have several limitations.

Soluble molecules and bone metabolism in multiple myeloma: a review.

Bone metabolism and turnover are strongly altered in multiple myeloma, as a consequence of the proliferation of malignant cells resembling plasmacells in the bone marrow. By both direct or indirect secretion of several molecules, and cell-to-cell interactions, multiple myeloma cells lead to severe and disabling skeletal alterations, such as osteolytic lesions, pathologic fractures, and osteoporosis. In this review, we summarize the studies concerning the soluble molecules which are supposed to have a role in this pathological process.

Granulocytic sarcoma: an unusual cause of spinal cord compression.

A 76-year old woman presented with a large inguino-crural mass, multiple abdominal lymphoadenopathies, and neurological signs of spinal cord compression, first diagnosed as large-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma. At subsequent clinical workup, a diagnosis of granulocytic sarcoma with meningeal involvement was made. Unfortunately, despite receiving intensive care, shortly after induction chemotherapy, the patient died of acute pneumonia followed by acute respiratory distress syndrome.