Publications by authors named "Ilaria Scaglione"

Background: While immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are increasingly reshaping the therapeutic landscape of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), only a limited proportion of patients achieve a relevant and long-lasting benefit with these treatments, calling for the identification of clinical and, ideally modifiable, predictors of efficacy. Body composition phenotypes may reflect aspects of patients' immunology and thereby their ability to respond to ICIs. This study aims to explore the possible association between pre-treatment body composition phenotypes, tumour response, and clinical outcomes in patients receiving first-line pembrolizumab monotherapy for advanced NSCLC.

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Introduction: To date, for all non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cases, it is recommended to test for driver alterations to identify actionable therapeutic targets. In this light, comprehensive genomic profiling (CGP) with next generation sequencing (NGS) has progressively gained increasing importance in clinical practice. Here, with the aim of assessing the distribution and the real-world frequency of gene alterations and their correlation with patient characteristics, we present the outcomes obtained using FoundationOne (F1CDx) and FoundationLiquid CDx (F1L/F1LCDx) NGS-based profiling in a nationwide initiative for advanced NSCLC patients.

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Article Synopsis
  • About 5% of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) involves anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) rearrangements, with EML4-ALK fusions being the most common type.
  • Targeting ALK has improved survival rates for patients with advanced ALK-positive NSCLC, but resistance to treatment and disease progression still occurs.
  • The tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) is crucial for understanding lung cancer development and treatment responses, shifting the focus from just tumor cells to the whole tumor ecosystem.
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Article Synopsis
  • - Enteric-type adenocarcinoma of the lung (lung-ETAC) is a rare and aggressive lung cancer that resembles colorectal cancer, leading to a poor prognosis.
  • - An 81-year-old man was diagnosed with lung-ETAC with a specific BRAF mutation after presenting with skin lesions; initial treatment with targeted therapies improved his condition.
  • - Despite initial success, the cancer progressed six months later with new skin lesions, underscoring both the potential of targeted treatments and the challenges in managing lung-ETAC.
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The advent of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), for instance, programmed cell death 1 (PD-1)/PD-1 ligand 1 (PD-L1) blockers, has greatly improved the outcome of patients affected by non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, most NSCLC patients either do not respond to ICI monotherapy or develop resistance to it after an initial response. Therefore, the identification of biomarkers for predicting the response of patients to ICI monotherapy represents an urgent issue.

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Background: On February 23rd, the 1st case of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection was diagnosed at the University Hospital Trust of Verona, Italy. On March 13th, the Oncology Section was converted into a 22-inpatient bed coronavirus disease (COVID) Unit, and we reshaped our organisation to face the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic, while maintaining oncological activities.

Methods: We tracked down (i) volumes of oncological activities (January 1st - March 31st, 2020 versus the same period of 2019), (ii) patients' and caregivers' perception and (iii) SARS-CoV-2 infection rate in oncology health professionals and SARS-CoV-2 infection-related hospital admissions of "active"' oncological patients.

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