Bone-Anchored Hearing Devices for Single-Sided Deafness: A New Preoperative Evaluation Protocol and Widening of Indications Proposal.

Introduction: Bone-anchored hearing devices (BAHD) are well-known good solution for single-sided deafness (SSD). Despite power extension of recently introduced BAHD with implanted active transducer, with indications up to 65 dB Hl of bone conduction (BC) threshold on the implanted side, their indications for SSD still remain better than 25 dB on the good ear, with regards to bone conduction thresholds. The aim of this study was to assess the possibility to enlarge BAHD indications for SSD by means of a newly proposed candidacy evaluation protocol, which includes a new software-aided method.

Epirubicin plus paclitaxel regimen as second-line treatment of patients with small-cell lung cancer.

Background/aim: Most patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC) experience relapse within one year after first-line treatment. The aim of this study was to describe activity and safety of second-line with epirubicin at 70 mg/m(2) followed by paclitaxel at 135 mg/m(2) on day 1 every three weeks for a maximum of six cycles.

Patients And Methods: This is a retrospective review of all patients with SCLC evaluated for second-line treatment between 2003 and 2013 at our Institution.

Retreatment with trastuzumab after progression on lapatinib-based therapy in heavily pretreated HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer: a single-institution experience.

Aims: The study aimed to determine if retreatment with trastuzumab after progression on treatment with lapatinib is feasible in a previously heavily pretreated population of HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer patients and if some range of activity and an acceptable toxicity profile could be shown.

Methods And Study Design: Women with HER2-positive metastatic breast carcinoma whose disease progressed after antracycline, taxane and trastuzumab-based regimens were treated at progression with lapatinib plus capecitabine. At progression on this combination, retreatment with trastuzumab combined with different cytotoxic agents was offered to most patients.

Lapatinib-based therapy in heavily pretreated HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer: a single institution experience.

Aims And Background: Lapatinib in combination with capecitabine is feasible in patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer pretreated with anthracyclines, taxanes and trastuzumab, but inferior results were reported in the global lapatinib expanded access program in comparison with the phase III registration trial.

Methods: and study design. Women with HER2-positive metastatic breast carcinoma after antracycline, taxane and trastuzumab-based regimens were treated at progression with lapatinib plus capecitabine.

Target therapy in elderly breast cancer patients.

Substantial progress has been made in the management of breast cancer by targeting HER2 and VEGF pathways. Although the efficacy and safety of target therapy in breast cancer have been established, no specific phase III trial has addressed these issues in the elderly population and the only data available derive from subanalyses or retrospective series. The aim of this review is to summarize the available evidence in this special population and to encourage further well designed studies in elderly breast cancer patients.

Positive experience of intraperitoneal chemotherapy followed by intravenous chemotherapy in heavily pretreated patients with suboptimal residual ovarian cancer and primary peritoneal cancer.

Aims And Background: To assess feasibility and toxicity of intraperitoneal administration of cisplatin and paclitaxel, followed by intravenous chemotherapy in pretreated patients with suboptimal ovarian cancer (residuum >1 cm) or primary peritoneal tumor, and suffering from ascites and/or intestinal obstruction.

Methods: Fourteen relapsed ovarian cancer patients, 5 of whom were platinum sensitive (platinum-free interval >6 mo), 7 platinum-resistant (platinum-free interval <6 mo), and 2 platinum-refractory, received one cycle of intraperitoneal cisplatin, 100 mg/m2 on day 1, and two cycles of intraperitoneal paclitaxel, 120 mg/m2 on days 8 and 14. Intravenous chemotherapy was administrated 4 weeks following the last intraperitoneal paclitaxel instillation.

Platinum-based doublet chemotherapy in pre-treated malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) patients: a mono-institutional experience.

Background: The major clinical problems of MPM management are the short duration of response and the early relapse. Currently, after the first-line standard pemetrexed/platinum combination there is not a defined regimen for the second line treatment of MPM, and the clinical benefits in fit patients are uncertain. We analyzed the feasibility of gemcitabine/platinum chemotherapy in pretreated MPM patients.

Vulvar cancer: prognostic factors.

Background: Prognostic factors such as surgery and pathology in vulvar squamous cell carcinoma are studied.

Patients And Methods: 47 patients with vulva squamous cell carcinoma treated at the Gynecology Department of the University of Padua, have been retrospectively studied.

Results: At the univariate relapse-free survival analysis, a significant association was found for histological grade, stage of disease and type of surgery.

Visuo-proprioceptive training reduces risk of falls in patients with multiple sclerosis.

Lack of balance and falls are common and disabling symptoms of multiple sclerosis. The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of a novel visuo-proprioceptive feedback training in ameliorating balance and reducing the risk of falls. Patients with multiple sclerosis with unrestricted walking ability and healthy age/sex-matched controls were recruited.

Good response to second-line bevacizumab and interferon-alpha in a sunitinib-refractory patient with metastatic renal cell carcinoma.

In recent years with the development of targeted agents such as bevacizumab, sunitinib, sorafenib, temsirolimus, and everolimus, the treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma has changed dramatically. In clinical practice, sunitinib and bevacizumab are reserved for first-line treatment, but despite various guidelines, optimal treatment is still uncertain. We present, for the first time, a case of a good response to second-line bevacizumab and interferon-alpha in a patient who failed classical sunitinib treatment.

In vivo characterization of the inflammatory infiltrate and apoptotic status in imiquimod-treated basal cell carcinoma.

Background: Imiquimod use in the treatment of basal cell carcinoma (BCC) has proven to be successful in a large percentage of cases, inducing tumor regression; however, the exact cellular mechanism has not been fully clarified.

Aim: To measure the morphological changes in the tumor microenvironment and the markers of apoptosis in skin biopsies from patients with BCC before and after imiquimod treatment.

Methods: In this open label study, skin biopsies obtained from 11 patients with BCC were evaluated before and after imiquimod treatment for: (i) morphological changes in the tumor microenvironment, with specific emphasis on the immunophenotype of inflammatory cells around the tumor; and (ii) markers of apoptosis, including expression of death receptors.

MC1R variants increase risk of melanomas harboring BRAF mutations.

Melanocortin-1 receptor (MC1R) variants have been associated with BRAF (v-raf murine sarcoma viral oncogene homolog B1) mutations in non-CSD (chronic solar-damaged) melanomas in an Italian and an American population. We studied an independent Italian population of 330 subjects (165 melanoma patients and 165 controls) to verify and estimate the magnitude of this association and to explore possible effect modifiers. We sequenced MC1R in all subjects and exon 15 of BRAF in 92/165 melanoma patients.

Medical history, drug exposure and the risk of psoriasis. Evidence from an Italian case-control study.

Background/aims: To evaluate the association of psoriasis with selected medical conditions and a number of drugs used before diagnosis.

Methods: Multicenter case-control study involving outpatient services of 20 general and teaching hospitals. Entry criteria for cases were a first diagnosis of psoriasis made by a dermatologist and a history of skin manifestations of no more than 2 years after the reported onset of the disease.

Application of optical coherence tomography in non-invasive characterization of skin vascular lesions.

Background: Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a new non-invasive approach for real-time in vivo tissue characterization. A promising use of OCT can be the assessment of the architecture of lesions with some degree of inhomogeneities, such as vascular lesions. Knowledge of the size and depth of the vascular structures can be useful for the diagnosis and for choosing the best treatment.

The use of commercially available personal UV-meters does cause less safe tanning habits: a randomized-controlled trial.

UV Index information is currently recommended as a vehicle to raise public awareness about the risk of sun-exposure. It remains unknown to what extent this information can change personal sun-protective behavior. The aim of the study was to analyze the effects of UV-Index (UV-I) information provided by low cost, commercially available UV-I sensors on major indicators of sun-tanning behavior.

The p.G23S CDKN2A founder mutation in high-risk melanoma families from Central Italy.

We have investigated the frequency and spectrum of CDKN2A/CDK4 mutations in 23 cutaneous melanoma families from Central Italy (Tuscany). Three distinct mutations were identified in five families. One mutation, p.

Nevus count on specific anatomic sites as a predictor of total body count: a survey of 3,406 children from Italy.

Scanty information is available on the relation between nevus count on specific anatomic areas and the total body surface, particularly in children. The authors analyzed this issue by using data from a uniquely large study conducted in 1997 on 3,406 schoolchildren (1,746 boys and 1,660 girls) aged 13-14 years in 13 cities from northern, central, and southern Italy. Children were examined by trained dermatologists who counted melanocytic nevi (>or=2 mm in diameter) on 19 different anatomic sites.

The melanoma epidemic debate: some evidence for a real phenomenon from Tuscany, Italy.

Our objective was to evaluate whether or not recent mortality data for the region of Tuscany confirm the hypothesis that an epidemic in the incidence of melanoma is an apparent phenomenon reflecting an overdiagnosis of indolent cases. We considered 1755 melanoma deaths in Tuscany in the period 1987-2003, and 2644 incidence cases of melanoma diagnosed in 1985-2003 in a subset of the same population. We calculated annual mortality and incidence trends using the National Cancer Institute's Joinpoint Program (version 2.

Melanoma incidence in central Italy will go on increasing also in the near future: a registry-based, age-period-cohort analysis.

The aim of the study was to evaluate malignant melanoma incident trends in central Italy by means of an age-period-cohort approach. A total of 1977 malignant melanoma (15-84 years) incidents in the area of the Tuscany Cancer Registry between 1987 and 2001 were analysed. Poisson regression has been used to estimate age, cohort and period effect.

Prognostic variables and prognostic groups for malignant melanoma. The information from Cox and Classification And Regression Trees analysis: an Italian population-based study.

The common way to analyse the prognostic role of selected variables in cutaneous melanoma patients is by means of Cox proportional hazard model. The prognostic effect of the simultaneous presence of more than one independent variable in the same patient is, however, difficult to establish. This hampers the possibility of tailoring a survival expectance for a selected patient as well as to communicate it to the patient himself/herself.

Baseline factors influencing decisions on digital follow-up of melanocytic lesions in daily practice: an Italian multicenter survey.

Background: Guidelines for optimized use of digital follow-up of melanocytic lesions are not yet available, and little is known about inclusion criteria adopted in clinical practice.

Objective: Our purpose was to describe the frequency of digital follow-up adoption in melanoma screening, the characteristics of patients and lesions selected, and the predictors of duration of the intervals of digital follow-up.

Methods: Baseline characteristics of patients and lesions selected for digital follow-up in 12 Italian pigmented lesion clinics were examined.

Features of regression in dermoscopic diagnosis: a confounding factor? Two clinical, dermoscopic-pathologic case studies.

Background: In dermoscopy, the presence of regression areas is generally associated with melanocytic lesions and is often considered a clue of malignancy. However, some lesions included in the differential diagnosis of melanoma may show dermoscopic regression parameters. Regression may indeed be one of the most confounding dermoscopic parameters because it tends to cover, or rather to destroy, other parameters, thus often hindering a correct diagnosis.