Publications by authors named "Paola De Franco"
Article Synopsis
- Studies show HPV-positive and HPV-negative oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) have different molecular profiles, tumor characteristics, and outcomes, highlighting a need for better predictive models.
- This paper presents an explainable Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) model that predicts HPV status in OPSCC patients using pre-treatment CT images, achieving a 73.50% AUC on an independent test set.
- The Grad-CAM technique was employed to identify crucial tumor areas related to predictions, suggesting that the model improves classification accuracy by revealing informative regions for clinical use.
Article Synopsis
- Pancreatic cancer (PC) has a poor prognosis even when the disease is resectable; this study aimed to explore how adding adjuvant chemoradiation (CRT) affects patients post-surgery.
- A retrospective analysis included 108 PC patients treated with adjuvant chemotherapy and CRT over 20 years, measuring local control (LC) and overall survival (OS), among other outcomes.
- Results showed a median OS of 40 months, with a notable association between perineural invasion and LC, suggesting the need for more research on optimizing treatment combinations for better patient outcomes.
Article Synopsis
- The study examined how radiomics analysis of post-treatment MRI can enhance predictions made by a multidisciplinary tumor board regarding pathological complete response (pCR) in locally advanced rectal cancer after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy.
- It analyzed data from 144 LARC patients treated between 2010 and 2019, creating three predictive models: one based on radiomics features, one based on the tumor board's evaluations, and a combined model.
- The results showed the combined model had the best predictive performance (AUC of 0.84), indicating that incorporating radiomics can improve accuracy in identifying patients who fully respond to the treatment, though the difference was not statistically significant.
Could the conservative approach be considered safe in the treatment of locally advanced rectal cancer in case of a clinical near-complete or complete response? A retrospective analysis.
Clin Transl Radiat Oncol
May 2021
Article Synopsis
- A conservative management option for rectal cancer (RC) patients showing near or complete response after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT) is being studied for its impact on survival and quality of life compared to surgical resection.
- The study analyzed 157 RC patients, comparing outcomes between those who underwent surgery and those who utilized conservative methods like local excision or a watch-and-wait strategy over a median follow-up of 51 months.
- Findings revealed no significant survival differences between the groups, but the conservative approach was linked to better quality of life indicators, including emotional and intestinal function, as well as less sexual dysfunction.
Article Synopsis
- Thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS) has low prevalence but generates significant debate in medical literature, particularly regarding its classification and treatment.
- Despite being the second most reported nerve entrapment syndrome, there is disagreement over its clinical existence and recognition among health professionals.
- A systematic review focused on neurogenic TOS was conducted to clarify uncertainties and guide future research and clinical practices.
Introduction: Radial nerve lesions associated with humeral shaft fractures are the most common traumatic nerve lesions observed with long bone fractures. Secondary indirect posterior interosseous nerve (PIN) lesions can be associated with traumatic radial nerve palsy. The aim of this study was to identify cases of traumatic double-site radial nerve involvement through ultrasound (US).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn the clinical setting the bulbocavernosus reflex (BCR) is elicited by squeezing the glans penis and digitally palpating the contraction of the bulbocavernosus (BC) muscle. In neurophysiology the BCR is obtained by stimulating the dorsal nerve of the penis or clitoris and by recording the response from BC muscle and it should be performed in selected patients with suspected urinary, bowel, or sexual neurogenic dysfunction. The BCR is considered one of the sacral neurophysiological tests of the greatest clinical utility.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDiscrimination between axonotmesis and neurotmesis is crucial in traumatic nerve injury. We present the case of a 43-year-old woman which presented hypoesthesia in the fourth and fifth right fingers, started after surgery for Dupuytren syndrome. At ultrasound study, the ulnar digital sensory branch was identified.
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