Publications by authors named "Maria T Fierro"

Article Synopsis
  • Prior to 2021, there was no available data to help choose between BRAF/MEK inhibitors and PD-1/CTLA-4 blockade for treating BRAFV600-mutant melanoma, leading to the SECOMBIT trial to study these options.
  • The trial assessed three treatment sequences: immunotherapy or targeted therapy first, or a combination approach, with the goal of evaluating overall survival.
  • Results indicated that immunotherapy followed by targeted therapy led to better long-term survival, and biomarker analyses suggested that specific genetic mutations may indicate improved outcomes, paving the way for future research on treatment predictions.
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Background: Skin metastases are an important co-morbidity in melanoma. Despite broad adoption, electrochemotherapy implementation is hindered by a lack of treatment indications, uncertainty regarding procedural aspects, and the absence of quality indicators. An expert consensus may harmonize the approach among centres and facilitate comparison with other therapies.

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Purpose: Limited prospective data are available on sequential immunotherapy and BRAF/MEK inhibition for -mutant metastatic melanoma.

Methods: SECOMBIT is a randomized, three-arm, noncomparative phase II trial (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02631447).

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Immunotherapy and target therapy have revolutionized treatment of stage III/IV melanoma. Both treatments show a favorable toxicity profile even if cutaneous adverse events (AEs) are frequent (30%-40% of cases). This is a retrospective single center cohort study that included patients with stage IV or inoperable stage III metastatic melanoma (AJCC 8th) who received BRAFi + MEKi therapy or immunotherapy with Checkpoint inhibitors.

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Background: Reports on the expression of CD38 in Sézary syndrome (SS), erythrodermic primary cutaneous T cell lymphoma with leukemic involvement, are limited. The aim of the present study is the analysis of the expression of CD38 by skin-infiltrating mononuclear cells and circulating T lymphocytes in a cohort of SS patients.

Methods: SS patients diagnosed since 1985 in our clinic were retrospectively analyzed for CD38 expression in biopsy and blood samples by immunohistochemistry and flow cytometry, respectively.

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Sézary syndrome is a rare subtype of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma characterized by erythroderma, peripheral lymphadenopathies, and circulating atypical cerebriform T-cells. To date, no definite staging system has been developed for these patients. In this retrospective analysis of the archive of the Dermatological Clinic of the University of Turin, Italy, erythrodermic SS patients were classified according to clinical records and photographs into three main presentations: erythematous, infiltrated, or melanodermic.

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Background: The current COVID-19 pandemic has influenced the modus operandi of all fields of medicine, significantly impacting patients with oncological diseases and multiple comorbidities. Thus, in recent months, the establishment of melanoma management during the emergency has become a major area of interest. In addition to original articles, case reports and specific guidelines for the period have been developed.

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Cutaneous melanoma is the most dangerous skin cancer, with high death rates in advanced stages. To assess the impact of each treatment on patient outcomes, most studies use relapse-free survival (RFS) as a primary endpoint and distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) as a secondary endpoint. The aim of this narrative review of the main adjuvant studies for resected stage III/IV melanoma, with a specific focus on DMFS, is to evaluate DMFS trends and their potential association with RFS, identify which treatments are possibly associated with better outcomes in terms of DMFS and their potential predictive factors, and discuss DMFS trends in terms of patient management in daily practice.

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Melanoma is an aggressive skin cancer, whose incidence rates have increased over the past few decades. Risk factors for melanoma are both intrinsic (genetic and familiar predisposition) and extrinsic (environment, including sun exposure, and lifestyle). The recent advent of targeted and immune-based therapies has revolutionized the treatment of melanoma, and research is focusing on strategies to optimize them.

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One of the most serious complications of advanced melanoma is the diffusion of cancer cells to the central nervous system. The diagnosis of leptomeningeal metastasis (LMM) is notoriously challenging and requires a combination of consistent MRI and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cytology. In ambiguous cases, mutations like BRAF V600E in CSF-cell-free (cf)DNA may help to clarify diagnosis of LMM.

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Sentinel lymph node biopsy has been demonstrated to be an effective staging procedure since its introduction in 1992. The new American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) classification did not consider the lack of information that would result from the less usage of the complete lymph node dissection as for a diagnostic purpose. Thus, this makes it difficult the correct staging and would leave about 20% of the further positive non-sentinel lymph nodes in the lymph node basin.

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Human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) is a retrovirus endemic in many parts of the world. Because of migration, cases of HTLV-1 in non-HTLV-1 endemic countries have been increasingly reported. Clinical presentation of HTLV-1 infection is highly variable, with a significant risk of diagnostic delays.

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Primary cutaneous T-cell lymphomas (PCTCL) are the most common types of cutaneous lymphomas, with Mycosis fungoides as the most frequent subtype. Besides early stages which usually have a good prognosis, advanced stages remain a great therapeutic challenge with low survival rates. To date, none of the currently available therapeutic options have significantly improved the outcomes of advanced cutaneous lymphomas.

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The introduction in clinical practice of new drug compounds both targeted therapies anti-BRAF and checkpoint inhibitors have largely improved our potential to manage advanced metastatic melanoma patients. This has led to a significant improvement in terms of response rates and particularly in the overall survival (OS). The long-term results of trials with follow-up data of patients treated with targeted or immunotherapies reported median OS rates around 24 months, with 5-year survival rates around 35-40%.

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Background: The etiopathogenesis of MF remains obscure. CD27 is a member of the tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily (TNFRS) that regulates lymphocyte function. Expression of CD27 protein and mRNA has been reported in B-cell lymphomas and adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma.

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Background: Few and small studies have described the management of immunomodulant/immunosuppressive therapies or phototherapy in atopic dermatitis (AD) patients during coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Methods: A national registry, named DA-COVID-19 and involving 35 Italian dermatology units, was established in order to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the management of adult AD patients treated with systemic immunomodulant/immunosuppressive medications or phototherapy. Demographic and clinical data were obtained at different timepoints by teledermatology during COVID-19 pandemic, when regular visits were not allowed due to sanitary restrictions.

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Xeroderma Pigmentosum (XP) is a rare genetic disorder with a poor prognosis due to high photosensitivity in affected patients. Herein, we describe the first case of the use of cemiplimab in a patient with XP, a 19-year-old girl presented with locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the right periorbital and nasal region. This treatment has been undertaken after a cycle of proton beam radiotherapy.

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Background: TNF-α is an important mediator in the pathogenesis of psoriasis and polymorphisms influence its transcription and could be implicated in psoriasis risk and modify certain aspects of disease, such as age at onset of psoriasis vulgaris and disease severity. Six TNF-α single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in promoter region has been identified and studied but with discordant results. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether the polymorphisms in TNF-α (-238 [rs361525], -308 [rs1800629], -857 [rs1799724], -1031 [rs1799964]) are associated with severity, itch, early onset or response to drug therapy in psoriasis in Caucasian Italian patients.

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