Exon 19 Insertions: Do Patients Respond to Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor Treatment?

Background/aim: Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) exon 19 insertions are very rare mutations and their response to tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) is uncertain. We report our experience concerning two patients, along with a literature review.

Patients And Methods: A total of 1,046 non-small-cell lung cancer tumor tissue samples were screened for EGFR mutations, using direct sequencing or next-generation sequencing.

The inhibition of SLC8A1 promotes Ca-dependent cell death in Gastric Cancer.

Intracellular Ca homeostasis dysregulation, through the modulation of calcium permeable ion channels and transporters, is gaining attention in cancer research as an apoptosis evasion mechanism. Recently, we highlighted a prognostic role for several calcium permeable channels. Among them, here, we focused on the plasma membrane bidirectional Na/Ca exchanger SLC8A1.

Increased levels of versican and insulin-like growth factor 1 in peritumoral mammary adipose tissue are related to aggressiveness in estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer.

The adipose tissue (AT) surrounding breast cancer (BC) plays a pivotal role in cancer progression and represents an optimal source for new biomarker discovery. The aim of this work was to investigate whether specific AT factors may have prognostic value in estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) BC. Proteoglycan Versican (VCAN), Insulin-like Growth Factor 1 (IGF1), Reticulon 4B (RTN4), chemokines CCL5 (also known as RANTES) and interleukin 8 (IL-8) are expressed in AT and may play important roles in BC progression.

Intra-articular injections with Carboxymethyl-Chitosan in patients affected by knee osteoarthritis non-responders to hyaluronic acid: a pilot study.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a disabling disease that causes pain and functional limitation. OA symptoms can be treated with intra-articular injections of anti-inflammatory, viscosupplementary, or viscoinductive products. Non-responders to these approaches have limited options, often surgical (e.

Implementing fencing as adapted physical activity in non-metastatic breast cancer patients: design and early rehabilitation strategy of the FENICE study protocol.

Background: Improving prognosis of BC patients has drawn the attention of health care professionals on disease related long-term side effects and on the multiple treatments BC patients must undergo. Despite advances in procedures, surgery still has multiple detrimental effects, including pain, edema, and limited mobility. For this reason, fostering adapted physical activity (APA) and healthy lifestyle (including a balanced diet and weight management) should become an everyday purpose of healthcare professionals.

NTRK gene aberrations in triple-negative breast cancer: detection challenges using IHC, FISH, RT-PCR, and NGS.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is usually an aggressive disease with a poor prognosis and limited treatment options. The neurotrophic tyrosine receptor kinase (NTRK) gene fusions are cancer type-agnostic emerging biomarkers approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), USA, for the selection of patients for targeted therapy. The main aim of our study was to investigate the frequency of NTRK aberrations, i.

Microsatellite Instability: From the Implementation of the Detection to a Prognostic and Predictive Role in Cancers.

Microsatellite instability (MSI) has been identified in several tumors arising from either germline or somatic aberration. The presence of MSI in cancer predicts the sensitivity to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), particularly PD1/PD-L1 inhibitors. To date, the predictive role of MSI is currently used in the selection of colorectal cancer patients for immunotherapy; moreover, the expansion of clinical trials into other cancer types may elucidate the predictive value of MSI for non-colorectal tumors.

OSAHS Growth Impairment and Resolution after Adenotonsillectomy in Children.

Introduction: One of the most important complications of OSAHS in children is growth delay. The aim of this study was to investigate changes in clinical body growth, and laboratory growth in children with OSAHS after adeno-tonsillar surgery.

Materials And Methods: In our study, among 102 children suffering from sleep-disordered breathing, 70 met the inclusion criteria because they were affected by OSAHS and adenotonsillar hypertrophy.

Adenoid cystic carcinoma of the breast and intraoperative electron radiotherapy: single case report and review of literature.

Adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) of the breast is a very rare neoplasm. It presents a triple-negative phenotype in most cases, but its prognosis is generally considered to be better than other breast cancers with the same immunohistochemical pattern. Due to its controversial features, no data are available in the literature regarding a consensus approach for ACC treatment, especially for subtypes with worse prognosis like solid basaloid ACC.

Metaplastic breast cancer. A case series.

Special type breast cancers display a wide range of different histological types in which clear recommendations on clinical and therapeutic management still lack and most of the information available derive from case report and case studies. In particular metaplastic breast cancer (MBC) is a rare and aggressive type of breast cancer accounting for around 1% of breast malignancies. We reported our experience in the management of five patients with MBC diagnosed and treated in our institution during the last few years (2016-2020).

Cationic Channel TRPV2 Overexpression Promotes Resistance to Cisplatin-Induced Apoptosis in Gastric Cancer Cells.

Gastric cancer (GC) is characterized by poor efficacy and modest clinical impact of current therapies, in which apoptosis evasion is relevant. Intracellular calcium homeostasis dysregulation is associated with apoptosis escaping, and aberrant expression of calcium regulator genes could promote GC drug resistance. Since we previously found a prognostic value for TRPV2 calcium channel expression in GC, we aimed to characterize the role of TRPV2 in cisplatin resistance.

Reference standards for gene fusion molecular assays on cytological samples: an international validation study.

Aims: Gene fusions assays are key for personalised treatments of advanced human cancers. Their implementation on cytological material requires a preliminary validation that may make use of cell line slides mimicking cytological samples. In this international multi-institutional study, gene fusion reference standards were developed and validated.

Diffuse Leukoplakia of the Bladder Ostium-Sparing in Patient Treated with Leuprorelin for Breast Cancer.

Case: A 55-year-old woman came to our attention in April 2020 referring haematuria, frequency and urgency. The patient referred previous treatment with leuprorelin 3.75 mg/2 ml for breast cancer three years ago.

Gene Copy Number and Post-Transductional Mechanisms Regulate TRAP1 Expression in Human Colorectal Carcinomas.

Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptor-Associated Protein 1 (TRAP1) is a heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) molecular chaperone overexpressed in 60-70% human colorectal carcinomas (CRCs) and the co-upregulation of TRAP1 and associated 6-related proteins identifies metastatic CRCs with poor prognosis. Since the molecular mechanisms responsible for TRAP1 regulation are still unknown, the significance of gene copy number (CN) and the role of post-transductional protein modifications were addressed. gene aneuploidy accounted for 34.

Cytofluorimetric and immunohistochemical comparison for detecting bone marrow infiltration in non-Hodgkin lymphomas: a study of 354 patients.

Morphological and immunohistochemical (IHC) analysis of bone marrow biopsies (BMB) is routinely performed during staging of patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). Aiming to evaluate the possible diagnostic value of flow cytometry (FC) on bone marrow aspirates (BMA), as compared with BMB, we retrospectively reviewed BMA specimen of 354 NHL. In 305 cases (86.

Grain free diets for utility dogs during training work: Evaluation of the nutrient digestibility and faecal characteristics.

Two different diets characterized by the absence of cereals or by the presence of conventional cereals were evaluated on the nutrient digestibility and faecal characteristics and faecal fermentative end-product concentrations of 8 neutered adult Labrador retrievers housed at the Regional Centre Helen Keller (Messina, Italy) during the training work for the service guide for the blind. Dogs (age = 17 ± 1 months, initial body weight [BW] = 26.3 ± 1 kg, and body condition score [BCS] = 4.

Uncommon frame-shift exon 19 EGFR mutations are sensitive to EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors in non-small cell lung carcinoma.

Exons 19-21 EGFR activating mutations are predictive biomarkers of response to EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, uncommon exon 19 EGFR mutations, due to their low frequency, have an uncertain biological and clinical significance and very little is known about their TKI sensitivity. This study was designed to describe the TKI sensitivity of a small cohort of lung adenocarcinomas bearing uncommon exon 19 mutations and to evaluate in silico the correlation between frame-shift exon 19 mutations and EGFR sequence/structure modification.

How to prepare cytological samples for molecular testing.

This review is focused on the challenges in standardising and optimising molecular testing workflow in cytopathology. Although cytological samples yield optimal quality DNA, whose minimal amounts in most cases suffice even for multigene mutational profiling, the success of molecular testing is strongly dependent on standardised preanalytical protocols for maximising DNA yield and quality. Sample cytopreparation influences, even more, the quality of RNA and consequently the potential success of reverse transcription-PCR.

ALK rearrangement in specific subtypes of lung adenocarcinoma: immunophenotypic and morphological features.

Lung adenocarcinomas are characterized by a variety of genetic and epigenetic changes that lead to activation of specific signaling pathways. This allowed the classification of lung adenocarcinomas according to genetic alterations and the clinical development of novel anticancer agents that affect the activity of specific oncoproteins. In such a context, chromosomal rearrangements that cause constitutive activation of ALK gene define a category of lung adenocarcinomas that is amenable to targeted therapy with ALK inhibitors.

TRAP1 protein signature predicts outcome in human metastatic colorectal carcinoma.

TRAP1 is a HSP90 molecular chaperone upregulated in colorectal carcinomas and involved in control of intracellular signaling, cell cycle, apoptosis and drug resistance, stemness and bioenergetics through co-traslational regulation of a network of client proteins. Thus, the clinical significance of TRAP1 protein network was analyzed in human colorectal cancers. TRAP1 and/or its client proteins were quantified, by immunoblot analysis, in 60 surgical specimens of colorectal carcinomas at different stages and, by immunohistochemistry, in 9 colorectal adenomatous polyps, 11 in situ carcinomas and 55 metastatic colorectal tumors.

TRAP1 regulates stemness through Wnt/β-catenin pathway in human colorectal carcinoma.

Colorectal carcinoma (CRC) is a common cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Indeed, treatment failures are triggered by cancer stem cells (CSCs) that give rise to tumor repopulation upon initial remission. Thus, the role of the heat shock protein TRAP1 in stemness was investigated in CRC cell lines and human specimens, based on its involvement in colorectal carcinogenesis, through regulation of apoptosis, protein homeostasis and bioenergetics.

[F-18] FDG-PET/CT parameters as predictors of outcome in inoperable NSCLC patients.

Background: We evaluated the prognostic significance of standardized uptake value (SUVmax), metabolic tumour volume (MTV), and total lesion glycolysis (TLG) in [F-18] FDG PET/CT findings in patients with inoperable non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Patients And Methods: One hundred and three patients (mean age, 65.6 ± 16 years) underwent [F-18] FDG PET/CT before the chemotherapy.

/ mutational status in familial non-medullary thyroid carcinomas: A retrospective study.

There are contrasting views on whether familial non-medullary thyroid carcinomas (FNMTCs) are characterized by aggressive behavior, and limited evidence exists on the prognostic value of and mutations in these tumors. Thus, in the present study, clinicopathological features were analyzed in 386 non-medullary thyroid carcinomas (NMTCs), subdivided in 82 familial and 304 sporadic cases. Furthermore, the and mutational statuses were investigated in a subgroup of 34 FNMTCs to address their clinical and biological significance.