Novel approaches for molecular targeted therapy of breast cancer: interfering with PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling.

Breast cancer is one of the most prevalent and devastating malignant diseases in women worldwide. Fortunately, while breast cancer incidence is still increasing, its death rate is declining. This is mainly due to early diagnosis and potent therapies such as blockade of estrogen receptor- or of ErbB2 (HER2-neu) membrane receptor signaling.

Radioguided localization of occult colonic lesions during open or laparoscopic surgery: an update.

The applications of radioguided surgery, an approach to oncologic surgery involving a multidisciplinary team, are expanding at a rapid pace. The technique of radioguided occult lesion localization (ROLL) was originally introduced in the mid- 90s for applications in breast surgery, and later adapted also to other tumor lesions such as solitary pulmonary nodules (during either open or laparoscopic surgery) and colonic lesions. Concerning the latter, in particular, the technique called radioguided occult colonic lesion identification (ROCLI) consists of identifying, with the aid of intraoperative gammaprobe counts, small lesions that may escape colic intraoperative palpation, after prior tagging of the lesions performed endoscopically through peri- or intra-lesional injection of Technetium-99m-labeled human albumin macroaggregates (99mTc- MAA), a particulate radiopharmaceutical (25-100 μm) that does not migrate from the site of interstitial administration.

Spatial gradients of OCPs in European butter--integrating environmental and exposure information.

The Stockholm Convention and the Global Monitoring Plan encourage the production of monitoring data to effectively evaluate the presence of the persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in all regions, in order to identify changes in levels over time, as well as to provide information on their regional and global environmental transport. Here, we report the first step of two to investigate whether butter is a feasible matrix to screen with the purpose to reflect regional ambient atmospheric air levels of POPs. The first step described here is to generate monitoring data; the second is to investigate the relationship between the two matrixes, i.

Added value of 99mTc-HMPAO-labeled leukocyte SPECT/CT in the characterization and management of patients with infectious endocarditis.

Unlabelled: The clinical performance of the Duke Endocarditis Service criteria to establish the diagnosis of infectious endocarditis (IE) can be improved through functional imaging procedures such as radiolabeled leukocytes ((99m)Tc-hexamethylpropyleneamine oxime [HMPAO]-labeled white blood cells [WBC]).

Methods: We assessed the value of (99m)Tc-HMPAO-WBC scintigraphy including SPECT/CT acquisitions in a series of 131 consecutive patients with suspected IE. Patients with permanent cardiac devices were excluded.

A New Bottle Design Decreases Hypoxemic Episodes during Feeding in Preterm Infants.

Oxygen saturation is lower during bottle feeding than during breastfeeding in preterm infants. Our objective was to compare two different bottle systems in healthy preterm infants before discharge in terms of SpO(2) and oral feeding efficiency (rate of milk intake). Infants without supplement oxygen needs were evaluated twice on the same day during two consecutive feeds, by the same nurse.

Three-dimensional core-shell hybrid solar cells via controlled in situ materials engineering.

Three-dimensional core-shell organic-inorganic hybrid solar cells with tunable properties are demonstrated via electropolymerization. Air-stable poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) shells with controlled thicknesses are rapidly coated onto periodic GaAs nanopillar arrays conformally, preserving the vertical 3D structure. The properties of the organic layer can be readily tuned in situ, allowing for (1) the lowering of the highest occupied molecular orbital level (|ΔE| ∼ 0.

Radioimmunotherapy with radretumab in patients with relapsed hematologic malignancies.

Unlabelled: We present here a systematic analysis of lymphoma and MM patients recruited into 2 clinical trials or treated with radretumab according to compassionate use, describing the biodistribution, dosimetry, safety, and clinical activity of radretumab.

Methods: Uptake in lymphoma lesions, safety, and clinical activity of radretumab radioimmunotherapy (R-RIT) were evaluated in 18 relapsed lymphoma or multiple myeloma patients.

Results: In 14 of 18 patients, selective tumor uptake was found; 11 of 15 lymphoma patients, including 9 of 11 with Hodgkin lymphoma (HL), were eligible for R-RIT (a priori criteria-based target-to-bone marrow ratio > 10:1 for EudraCT no.

Off-label use of sunitinib in patients with advanced, epithelial thyroid cancer: a retrospective analysis.

Tyrosine kinase receptors play an important role in tumor angiogenesis and, their implication in epithelial thyroid tumor growth has been highlighted. Sunitinib is a novel tyrosine kinase inhibitor, approved in 2006 by Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of advanced renal cell and gastrointestinal stromal tumors. Preliminary promising results have been also obtained in patients with RAI-resistant thyroid neoplasia.

Distribution of exogenous [125I]-3-iodothyronamine in mouse in vivo: relationship with trace amine-associated receptors.

3-Iodothyronamine (T1AM) is a novel chemical messenger, structurally related to thyroid hormone, able to interact with G protein-coupled receptors known as trace amine-associated receptors (TAARs). Little is known about the physiological role of T1AM. In this prospective, we synthesized [125I]-T1AM and explored its distribution in mouse after injecting in the tail vein at a physiological concentration (0.

Activation of a cryptic splice site in a potentially lethal coagulation defect accounts for a functional protein variant.

Changes at the invariable donor splice site +1 guanine, relatively frequent in human genetic disease, are predicted to abrogate correct splicing, and thus are classified as null mutations. However, their ability to direct residual expression, which might have pathophysiological implications in several diseases, has been poorly investigated. As a model to address this issue, we studied the IVS6+1G>T mutation found in patients with severe deficiency of the protease triggering coagulation, factor VII (FVII), whose absence is considered lethal.

Randomized trial of early bubble continuous positive airway pressure for very low birth weight infants.

Objective: To determine whether very low birth weight infants (VLBWIs), initially supported with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) and then selectively treated with the INSURE (intubation, surfactant, and extubation to CPAP; CPAP/INSURE) protocol, need less mechanical ventilation than those supported with supplemental oxygen, surfactant, and mechanical ventilation if required (Oxygen/mechanical ventilation [MV]).

Study Design: In a multicenter randomized controlled trial, spontaneously breathing VLBWIs weighing 800-1500 g were allocated to receive either therapy. In the CPAP/INSURE group, if respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) did not occur, CPAP was discontinued after 3-6 hours.

Kaposiform hemangioendothelioma with Kasabach-Merritt phenomenon: successful treatment with embolization and vincristine in two newborns.

Kaposiform hemangioendothelioma (KHE) is a rare vascular tumor and has a high mortality in newborns when associated with Kasabach-Merritt syndrome (KMS). In two newborns with KHE and severe KMS refractory to medical treatment, emergency embolization led to clinical improvement in the acute neonatal setting by reducing tumor volume, increasing the platelet count, and improving other clotting parameters. Systemic vincristine treatment was added for further tumor control.

Clinical and pharmacokinetic study of sunitinib and docetaxel in women with advanced breast cancer.

Background: This exploratory study examined the pharmacokinetics, safety, and antitumor activity of sunitinib plus docetaxel in patients with HER-2-negative advanced breast cancer.

Patients And Methods: Patients with HER-2-negative disease who had received prior adjuvant anthracycline-based therapy received docetaxel (75 mg/m(2)) on day 1 of each 3-week cycle followed by sunitinib (37.5 mg/day for 2 weeks on Schedule 2/1) starting on day 2 (day 3 on cycle 2).

Creatinine clearance, cystatin C, beta2-microglobulin and TATI as markers of renal function in patients with proteinuria.

Background: Proteinuria is a risk factor for end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Creatinine clearance (CrCl) is usually used as a marker to monitor the progression of ESRD, while cystatin C (CYST) has also been considered as a marker of renal function. Tumor-associated trypsin inhibitor (TATI) has been shown to be a promising marker of renal function.

The effect of Ginkgo biloba extract on genotoxic damage in patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma receiving thyroid remnant ablation with iodine-131.

Background: Radioiodine ((131)I) therapy is usually performed in patients with differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC). Although (131)I is generally considered safe, genotoxic damage has been demonstrated both in vivo and in vitro. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the effect of Ginkgo biloba extract (GBE) on the time-course of appearance, after (131)I therapy for DTC, of plasma factors with chromosome-damaging properties (so-called "clastogenic" factors [CFs]) and of micronuclei (MN) in lymphocytes.

Natural and engineered carboxy-terminal variants: decreased secretion and gain-of-function result in asymptomatic coagulation factor VII deficiency.

We report 2 asymptomatic homozygotes for the nonsense p.R462X mutation affecting the carboxy-terminus of coagulation factor VII (FVII, 466 aminoacids). FVII levels of 3-5% and 2.

PI-PLCβ1 gene copy number alterations in breast cancer.

Deregulation of signal transduction pathways frequently confers selective biological advantages to tumors. Phosphoinositides play an essential role in numerous cellular functions and, among the enzymes implicated in these processes, phosphoinositide-specific phospholipase C β1 (PI-PLCβ1) is one of the key regulators. In the present study, a fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) approach was used to investigate PI-PLCβ1 gene copy number alterations in various types of breast cancer differing in their invasiveness and proliferative activity, according to their mitotic index.