Accuracy and prognostic impact of FDG PET/CT and biopsy in bone marrow assessment of follicular lymphoma at diagnosis: A Nation-Wide cohort study.

Backgound: In the workup of follicular lymphoma (FL), bone marrow biopsy (BMB) assessment is a key component of FLIPI and FLIPI2, the most widely used outcome scores. During the previous decade, several studies explored the role of FDG-PET/CT for detecting nodal and extranodal disease, with only one large study comparing both techniques.

Methods: The aim of our study was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy and the prognostic impact of both procedures in a retrospective cohort of 299 FL patients with both tests performed at diagnosis.

Utility and limitations of metabolic parameters in head and neck cancer: finding a practical segmentation method.

Purpose: Although metabolic tumor volume (MTV) and total lesion glycolysis (TLG) have shown good prognostic value in head and neck cancer (HNC), there are still many issues to resolve before their potential application in standard clinical practice. The purpose of this study was to compare the discrimination ability of two relevant segmentation methods in HNC and to evaluate the potential benefit of adding lymph nodes' metabolism (LNM) to the measurements.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed a recently published database of 62 patients with HNC treated with chemoradiotherapy.

Adding value to tumor staging in head and neck cancer: The role of metabolic parameters as prognostic factors.

Background: Validated biomarkers in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) are scarce.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 62 patients with HNSCC treated with radiotherapy +/- concurrent chemotherapy. Pretreatment metabolic tumor volume (MTV) and total lesion glycolysis (TLG) were measured in a F-FDG positron emission tomography using a liver dependent standardized uptake value threshold.

Metabolic tumor volume and total lesion glycolysis as prognostic factors in head and neck cancer: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

The role of metabolic tumor volume (MTV) and total lesion glycolysis (TLG) in head and neck cancer (HNC) prognosis is not well established. We conducted a systematic review focusing on MTV and TLG measured by F-FDG positron-emission tomography in HNC. Meta-analyses were developed, estimating hazard ratios (HRs) for overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS).

Intrathecal cell therapy with autologous stromal cells increases cerebral glucose metabolism and can offer a new approach to the treatment of Alzheimer's type dementia.

Background Aims: After recent observations that intrathecal administration of autologous bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) increases cerebral metabolism in patients with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI), we examined this type of cell therapy in Alzheimer's type dementia.

Methods: Three patients with clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease received every 3 months 100million autologous MSCs by intrathecal route, until a total dose of 300million.

Results: During cell therapy the patients showed arrest in neurological deterioration and two of them manifested clear improvement of previous symptoms.

Bone marrow biopsy superiority over PET/CT in predicting progression-free survival in a homogeneously-treated cohort of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

Several studies have reported uneven results when evaluating the prognostic value of bone marrow biopsy (BMB) and PET/CT as part of the staging of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). The heterogeneity of the inclusion criteria and not taking into account selection and collinearity biases in the analysis models might explain part of these discrepancies. To address this issue we have carried a retrospective multicenter study including 268 DLBCL patients with a BMB and a PET/CT available at diagnosis where we estimated both the prognosis impact and the diagnostic accuracy of each technique.

Progressive increase in brain glucose metabolism after intrathecal administration of autologous mesenchymal stromal cells in patients with diffuse axonal injury.

Background Aims: Cell therapy in neurological disability after traumatic brain injury (TBI) is in its initial clinical stage. We describe our preliminary clinical experience with three patients with diffuse axonal injury (DAI) who were treated with intrathecal administration of autologous mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs).

Methods: Three patients with established neurological sequelae due to DAI received intrathecally autologous MSCs.

Prospective evaluation of 18-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose positron emission tomography for the discrimination of paraaortic nodal spread in patients with locally advanced cervical carcinoma.

Main Objective: Patients with locally advanced cervical cancer (LACC) are usually treated with concurrent chemoradiotherapy. Extended-field chemoradiotherapy is indicated in cases of paraaortic nodal spread. Nowadays, 18-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) is considered to be the most accurate image method of detection of node or distant metastases.