Publications by authors named "Oreste Villani"

Article Synopsis
  • Lymphoproliferative diseases involve various types of malignant lymphocyte growth, making diagnosis challenging due to their diverse presentations and characteristics.
  • Flow cytometry has emerged as a valuable tool for diagnosing T-cell disorders, particularly when the number of cancerous cells is low.
  • A case study of a 55-year-old man with two distinct T-cell clones highlights the importance of accurate diagnostic methods, as the patient's quick decline prevented a conclusive identification of one of the clones.
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  • - Atypical chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is diagnosed based on shape and structure, but deviations from the usual immune profile indicate a need to look for atypical cases.
  • - In a study comparing atypical and typical CLL cases, atypical presentations showed distinct immune marker expressions, including higher CD20 and unmutated IgVH rates, and were associated with more advanced disease stages.
  • - While morphological features seem to provide better insights into patient prognosis, the effectiveness of using both morphology and immunophenotype in guiding treatment decisions remains uncertain and requires additional research.
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  • B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) involves the growth of abnormal B lymphocytes, with recent research suggesting that certain T-cell subsets may play a role in monitoring tumors.
  • In a study of 50 B-CLL patients and 38 healthy controls, researchers found reductions in specific T-cell subsets (DNT, DPT, and NKT-like cells) among B-CLL patients, except for low-risk groups where NKT-like cells were relatively normal.
  • The findings suggest a complex relationship between T-cell subpopulations and disease progression, highlighting the need for further research to explore their potential roles in immune response to B-CLL.
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A case of concomitant hairy cell leukemia (HCL) and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) in a 50- year-old man was reported. Flow cytometry and droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) were used to detect the B-Raf proto-oncogene (BRAF) V600E mutation. The HCL population was the predominant component.

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FOXP3-expressing regulatory T-cells (Tregs), which suppress aberrant immune response against self-antigens, also suppress anti-tumor immune response. It has been shown that there is an increased proportion of Tregs in several different human malignancies, although the actual mechanism remains unclear. The research aims to explore the relationship between the number of Tregs and a predict prognosis in particular hematological diseases as monoclonal gammopathies of uncertain significance (MGUS).

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Membrane-bound CD200 is overexpressed in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), and there is some evidence that its soluble ectodomain (sCD200) could also be involved in the pathophysiology and the disease. However, very little is known about sCD200's prognostic significance. sCD200 was tested at diagnosis in 272 patients with CLL and in 78 age- and sex-matched healthy subjects using a specific human CD200 (OX-2 membrane glycoprotein) ELISA kit.

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  • Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are lipid bilayer particles released by cells, and circulating EVs (cEVs) may serve as important biomarkers for diagnosing and monitoring tumors, although effective isolation methods for clinical use are still needed.
  • A new procedure using bench centrifuge techniques was developed to isolate serum cEVs from small blood samples, allowing detailed characterization of these vesicles including their size, quantity, and nucleic acid content.
  • This procedure effectively identified specific EVs related to multiple myeloma, providing a way to differentiate between cancer patients and healthy subjects, and can enhance real-time tumor monitoring with minimal invasiveness and ease of use.
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CD200, a transmembrane type Ia glycoprotein belonging to the immunoglobulin protein superfamily, is broadly expressed on a wide variety of cell types, such as B lymphocytes, a subset of T lymphocytes, dendritic cells, endothelial and neuronal cells. It delivers immunosuppressive signals through its receptor CD200R, which is expressed on monocytes/myeloid cells and T lymphocytes. Moreover, interaction of CD200 with CD200R has also been reported to play a role in the regulation of tumor immunity.

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Article Synopsis
  • Lymphoproliferative disorders are a diverse group of malignant lymphocyte growths that pose diagnostic challenges due to their varying clinical presentations and immunophenotypes.
  • T-cell disorders are less common and harder to diagnose than B-cell disorders, lacking a specific immunophenotypic profile, but flow cytometry helps in their characterization.
  • The report highlights three unique cases of mature T-cell neoplasms where multicolor flow cytometry was crucial for accurate diagnosis, emphasizing its importance in identifying rare T-cell lymphoproliferative disorders.
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mutational status is an essential diagnostic index in myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs). Although widely used for detection of mutation in peripheral blood (PB), sensitive real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) presents some methodological limitations. Recently, emerging alternative technologies, like digital droplet PCR (ddPCR), have been reported to overcome some of qPCR's technical drawbacks.

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A survey within hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) centers of the Gruppo Italiano Trapianto Midollo Osseo (GITMO) was performed in order to describe current antiemetic prophylaxis in patients undergoing HSCT. The multicenter survey was performed by a questionnaire, covering the main areas on chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV): antiemetic prophylaxis guidelines used, antiemetic prophylaxis in different conditioning regimens, and methods of CINV evaluation. The survey was carried out in November 2016, and it was repeated 6 months after the publication of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC)/European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) specific guidelines on antiemetic prophylaxis in HSCT.

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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.

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  • Researchers studied 134 patients with multiple myeloma (MM) who had good responses to a treatment with bortezomib and were treated again with it after their cancer relapsed.
  • The results showed that 71% of the patients had a positive response to the re-treatment, with some even reaching complete recovery.
  • Overall, the patients lived for an average of 94 months after their treatment, suggesting that using bortezomib again can be a good option for some patients with MM.
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Purpose: Multiple myeloma (MM) is a hematologic malignancy characterized by a clonal expansion of plasma cells (PCs) in the bone marrow (BM). Since MM has so far remained incurable, further insights into its pathogenesis and the concomitant identification of new therapeutic targets are urgently needed. The tyrosine kinase receptor EphA3 is known to be involved in various cellular processes including cell viability, cell movement and cell-cell interactions.

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Lin28A is a highly conserved RNA-binding protein that concurs to control the balance between stemness and differentiation in several tissue lineages. Here, we report the role of miR-128a/Lin28A axis in blocking cell differentiation in acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a genetically heterogeneous disease characterized by abnormally controlled proliferation of myeloid progenitor cells accompanied by partial or total inability to undergo terminal differentiation. First, we found Lin28A underexpressed in blast cells from AML patients and AML cell lines as compared with CD34+ normal precursors.

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Iron chelation is controversial in higher risk myelodysplastic syndromes (HR-MDS), outside the allogeneic transplant setting. We conducted a retrospective, multicentre study in 51 patients with transfusion-dependent, intermediate-to-very high risk MDS, according to the revised international prognostic scoring system, treated with the oral iron chelating agent deferasirox (DFX). Thirty-six patients (71%) received azacitidine concomitantly.

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This study investigates the role of ephrin receptor A3 (EphA3) in the angiogenesis of Multiple Myeloma (MM) and the effects of a selective target of EphA3 by a specific monoclonal antibody on primary bone marrow endothelial cells (ECs) of MM patients.EphA3 mRNA and protein were evaluated in ECs of MM patients (MMECs), in ECs of patients with monoclonal gammopathies of undetermined significance (MGECs) and in ECs of healthy subjects (control ECs). The effects of EphA3 targeting by mRNA silencing (siRNA) or by the anti EphA3 antibody on the angiogenesis were evaluated.

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Purpose: The use of extracellular vesicles (EVs) from body fluids as "liquid biopsies" is emerging as a promising approach for the diagnosis, prognosis and therapeutic monitoring of cancer patients. MicroRNA-155 (miR155), a non-coding transcript of the B-cell integration cluster (BIC) gene, has been reported to play a critical role in the pathogenesis of several types of hematologic malignancies (HMs) in which high miR155 levels have been found. At yet, however, the EV miR155 level and its putative clinical relevance in sera of HM patients have not been reported.

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Microvescicles (MV) are shedding particles released by normal and neoplastic cells, whose levels in biological fluids highlight their potential role as disease biomarkers and therapeutic targets. By analyzing 131 newly diagnosed chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), we found that the absolute number of serum CLL MV was significantly higher than in controls, in particular in advanced stages of disease. In addition, CD19 + and CD37+, B-cell derived MV, significantly correlated with high tumor burden.

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Introduction: A still not well defined proportion of patients with multiple myeloma (MM) and eligible for autologous stem cell transplantation (AuSCT) fails to mobilize CD34+ peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC) at all or to collect an adequate number for a safe procedure or sufficient for multiple transplants. These so-called "poor-mobilizers" are difficult to be predicted, due to marked difference across previous heterogeneous studies.

Methods: We aimed to develop a method based on simple clinical parameters for predicting unsuccessful (<2×10(6)/kg) or sub-optimal (<5×10(6)/kg) collections of CD34+ PBSC in newly diagnosed MM patients eligible for AuSCT, treated with novel agents and receiving an homogeneous mobilizing therapy with cyclophosphamide and granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF).

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We report a patient with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) in whom a leukemic involvement of prostate and penis occurred in the advanced phase of his disease. Obstructive urinary symptoms were indicative of prostatic CLL infiltration, followed by the occurrence of an ulcerative lesion on the glans. Histologic examination confirmed the neoplastic B-cell infiltration.

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