Publications by authors named "PACI A"

Background: Nivolumab is an immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) that selectively inhibits programmed cell death protein 1 activation, restoring antitumor immunity. ICIs are indicated for various types of advanced solid tumors; however, not all patients benefit from them, and tools that could be used in the clinic to predict response to treatment represent an unmet need. Here we describe the development of a new population pharmacokinetic (PPK) model in patients treated with nivolumab in clinical trials.

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Introduction: Considering the elevated cancer mortality in individuals with psychiatric conditions, possibly associated with late diagnosis, this study investigated cancer screening participation rates among patients under the care of four Trieste community mental health centers (CMHCs).

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study on 1252 individuals with psychiatric disorders, retrieving their electronic health records up to December 2019. The study assessed participation rates in breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer screening programs.

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Context: Mucopolysaccharidosis (MPS) requires urgent treatment to prevent neurological damage. While gene therapy holds promise for effectively treating these diseases with minimal toxicity, access remains limited for most patients. Consequently, advancing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) for young children is crucial.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study highlights that body weight and sex can significantly impact how anticancer drugs are processed in the body, yet the extent of these differences remains unclear.
  • A systematic review of 112 studies identified significant pharmacokinetic (PK) differences for 14 out of 99 examined anticancer agents, although no studies currently assess how these differences impact drug efficacy or safety.
  • The findings suggest that developing sex-specific dosing strategies for anticancer drugs could improve their risk-benefit ratio for patients.
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Purpose: Mitotane is the only approved treatment for metastatic adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC). Monitoring plasma levels is recommended, but its predictive value is insufficient.

Methods: This prospective study of the French ENDOCAN-COMETE network aimed to investigate the prognostic role of plasma mitotane levels pharmacokinetics and free or bound to lipoprotein fraction measurements during six consecutive months.

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Cyclophosphamide and ifosfamide are major alkylating agents but their therapeutics uses are limiting by the toxicity due to several toxicities. Indeed conventional chemotherapies are generally used with the maximum tolerated dose. In contrast, metronomic schedule aims to get a minimum dose for efficacy with a good safety.

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Real-life populations are more heterogeneous than those included in prospective clinical studies. In cancer patients, comorbidities and co-medications favor the appearance of severe adverse effects which can significantly impact quality of life and treatment effectiveness. Most of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) have been developed with flat oral dosing exposing patients to the risk of poor adherence due to side effects.

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A multitude of TKI has been developed and approved targeting various oncogenetic alterations. While these have provided improvements in efficacy compared with conventional chemotherapies, resistance to targeted therapies occurs. Mutations in the kinase domain result in the inability of TKI to inactivate the protein kinase.

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Context: Obesity prevalence is persistently increasing worldwide. Among surgical therapeutic procedures, bypass surgery and sleeve gastrectomy have shown the best results regarding weight loss, prevention, and treatment of secondary complications. However, these surgeries are associated with an increased risk of malabsorption and metabolic changes that could further affect the pharmacokinetics of drugs.

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Purinergic receptors and NOD-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome regulate inflammation and viral infection, but their effects on severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection remain poorly understood. Here, we report that the purinergic receptor P2X7 and NLRP3 inflammasome are cellular host factors required for SARS-CoV-2 infection. Lung autopsies from patients with severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) reveal that NLRP3 expression is increased in host cellular targets of SARS-CoV-2 including alveolar macrophages, type II pneumocytes and syncytia arising from the fusion of infected macrophages, thus suggesting a potential role of NLRP3 and associated signaling pathways to both inflammation and viral replication.

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Introduction: Busulfan is an alkylating agent widely used in the conditioning of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation possessing a complex metabolism and a large interindividual and intra-individual variability, especially in children. Combined with the strong rationale of busulfan PK/PD relationships, factors altering its clearance (e.g.

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Context: Pheochromocytomas and paragangliomas (PPGL) are rare neuroendocrine tumors that are frequently associated with succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) germline mutations. When mutated, SDH losses its function, thus leading to succinate accumulation.

Objective: In this study, we evaluated serum succinate levels as a new metabolic biomarker in SDHx-related carriers.

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Anti-CTLA-4 and anti-PD-1/PD-L1 immune checkpoint inhibitors are therapeutic monoclonal antibodies that do not target cancer cells but are designed to reactivate or promote antitumor immunity. Dosing and scheduling of these biologics were established according to conventional drug development models, even though the determination of a maximum tolerated dose in the clinic could only be defined for anti-CTLA-4. Given the pharmacology of these monoclonal antibodies, their high interpatient pharmacokinetic variability, the actual clinical benefit as monotherapy that is observed only in a specific subset of patients, and the substantial cost of these treatments, a number of questions arise regarding the selected dose and the dosing interval.

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The hallmarks of cancer include metabolism with deregulating cellular energetics. Dysfunctions in succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) metabolic enzyme activity, leading to an abnormal accumulation of succinic acid has been described in solid tumors but also in inflammation and ischemia reperfusion injury. Succinic acid is a potential biomarker of SDH related pathologies for diagnostic, evaluation of treatment response and follow-up of the disease.

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Background: Cabozantinib is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor with a substantial efficacy in metastatic renal cell carcinoma, and is associated with a challenging toxicity profile leading to frequent drug discontinuations. Whereas an exposure/safety relationship was demonstrated for this drug, an exposure/efficacy relationship is still unknown.

Patients And Methods: We carried out a monocentric, observational, pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics (PK/PD) study in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (INDS MR 5612140520).

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Over the past two decades, targeted therapies have become cornerstone treatments for numerous cancers with oncogene addiction. Unfortunately, their effectiveness reduces over time and most patients who receive targeted therapies relapse within 12 months. The emergence of drug-resistance mechanisms in tumours paved the way for next-generation inhibitors.

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Pazopanib is a potent multi-targeted kinase inhibitor approved for the treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma and soft tissue sarcoma. The pharmacokinetics of pazopanib is characterized by a significant inter- and intra-patient variability and a target through plasma concentration of 20.5 mg·L.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study focuses on the pharmacokinetics (how the body processes a drug) of cyclophosphamide, an anticancer drug, in infants and young children under two years old, highlighting this often-neglected patient group.
  • Analyzed data from 111 samples of 25 patients revealed a wide range of drug clearance rates, showing significant inter-patient variability but no major differences based on age or body weight.
  • The findings indicate that while cyclophosphamide clearance for patients under two is similar, it differs notably from older children, suggesting a need for tailored dosing strategies across various tumor types.
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Article Synopsis
  • * In a phase II trial with 89 patients, the treatment included two cycles of paclitaxel and ifosfamide, followed by three cycles of HD carboplatin and etoposide, with dosage adjustments based on carboplatin clearance to achieve a target area under the curve (AUC) of 24 mg.min/mL.
  • * Results showed a 44.3% complete response rate and a median progression-free survival (PFS) of 12
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Introduction: Cabozantinib is an oral tyrosine kinase inhibitor that is approved for the treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC). Cabozantinib is a weak base that exhibits a pH-dependent solubility profile in vitro which raises concerns about its bioavailability in patients treated with proton pump inhibitors (PPIs). The purpose of this study was to investigate whether PPI use has an impact on the efficacy, safety, and residual concentration (Ctrough) of cabozantinib in patients with mRCC.

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Kinase inhibitors (KI) have dramatically improved the outcome of treatment in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), which harbors an oncogene addiction. This study assesses KI plasma levels and their clinical relevance in patients chronically exposed to KIs. Plasma samples were collected in NSCLC patients receiving erlotinib, gefitinib, osimertinib, crizotinib, or dabrafenib (with or without trametinib) for at least three months between November 2013 and February 2019 in a single institution.

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Isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 () and 2 () mutations in Myeloid Neoplams (MNs) exhibit DNA hypermethylation 2-hydroxyglutarate (2HG) over-production. Clinical impact of azacitidine (AZA) remains inconsistent in -mutated MNs and the potential of serum 2HG as a suitable marker of response to AZA is unknown. To address these questions, we retrospectively analyzed 93 MNs patients (78 AML, 11 MDS, 4 CMML) with / mutations treated with AZA.

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Background: Oxazaphosphorines (cyclophosphamide (CPA), ifosfamide (IFO)) are major alkylating agents of polychemotherapy protocols but limiting their toxicity and increasing their efficacy could be of major interest. Oxazaphosphorines are prodrugs that require an activation by cytochrome P450 (CYP). CPA is mainly metabolized (>80%) to phosphoramide mustard while only 10%-50% of IFO is transformed in the alkylating entity, isophosphoramide mustard and 50%-90% of IFO release chloroacetaldehyde, a nephrotoxic and neurotoxic metabolite.

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Article Synopsis
  • Busulfan is a key drug used before hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, but achieving consistent dosing is challenging, especially in neonates and infants.
  • An observational study initiated in 2005 analyzed data from 540 patients to create a population pharmacokinetic model that considers body weight and maturation, which significantly reduced variability in drug clearance.
  • The new dosing model showed improved drug exposure for children under 16 kg compared to previous methods and suggests that therapeutic drug monitoring is essential for young patients and those with specific conditions.
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Background: New rescue regimens are needed for pediatric refractory/recurrent low-grade glioma. Nilotinib is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor that has potential synergistic effects with vinblastine on angiogenesis, tumor cell growth, and immunomodulation.

Methods: This phase I trial aimed to determine the recommended doses of this combination for phase II trials (RP2D) using the dual-agent Bayesian continual reassessment method.

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