Publications by authors named "Raffaele Palaia"

: Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (pNETs) represent a rare subset of pancreatic cancer. Functional tumors cause hormonal changes and clinical syndromes, while non-functional ones are often diagnosed late. Surgical management needs multidisciplinary planning, involving enucleation, distal pancreatectomy with or without spleen preservation, central pancreatectomy, pancreaticoduodenectomy or total pancreatectomy.

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Plexiform fibromyxoma (PF), also referred to as plexiform angiomyxoid myofibroblast tumor, is an exceedingly rare mesenchymal neoplasm primarily affecting the stomach. Herein, we present a case of PF diagnosed in a 71-year-old male with a history of lung cancer, initially suspected to have a gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) of the stomach, who subsequently underwent subtotal gastrectomy. The histopathological and molecular features of the tumor, including mutations in , , , , , and MALAT1-GLI1 fusion, are elucidated and discussed in the context of diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic considerations.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study focused on the perioperative outcomes of pancreatic cancer surgeries during the COVID-19 pandemic, comparing data from 2019 and 2020.
  • Researchers analyzed 1815 patients, finding no significant difference in cancer stages between the two years, but noted a decrease in neoadjuvant chemotherapy use and an increase in minimally invasive procedures in 2020.
  • Despite some changes in treatment protocols and a rise in medical complications during surgery in 2020, the overall outcome for patients undergoing surgery for pancreatic cancer remained largely unaffected.
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Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a rare cancer originating from the biliary epithelium and accounts for about 3% of all gastrointestinal malignancies. Unfortunately, the majority of patients are not eligible for surgical resection at the time of diagnosis, because of the locally advanced stage or metastatic disease. The overall survival time of unresectable CCA is generally less than 1 year, despite current chemotherapy regimens.

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The esophagus undergoes shrinkage after resection and fixation. The surgical in situ margin is greater than the specimen margin, measured by the pathologist. The length of disease-free margins is critical to therapeutic planning.

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The aim of the study was to analyse papers describing the use of Electrochemotherapy (ECT) in local treatment of primary and secondary liver tumours located at different sites and with different histologies. Other Local Ablative Therapies (LAT) are also discussed. Analyses of these papers demonstrate that ECT use is safe and effective in lesions of large size, independently of the histology of the treated lesions.

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Pancreatic cancer (PC) is one of the deadliest cancers, and it is responsible for a number of deaths almost equal to its incidence. The high mortality rate is correlated with several explanations; the main one is the late disease stage at which the majority of patients are diagnosed. Since surgical resection has been recognised as the only curative treatment, a PC diagnosis at the initial stage is believed the main tool to improve survival.

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Article Synopsis
  • The Italian Research Group for Gastric Cancer (GIRCG) noted in 2013 that laparoscopic or robotic surgeries should primarily be used for early gastric cancer (EGC), with no further guidelines available at that time.
  • A recent study surveyed 46 out of 100 expert Italian upper gastrointestinal surgeons on their use of minimally invasive techniques for gastric cancer treatment, finding a similar preference for these methods in both early and advanced gastric cancer cases.
  • The results indicated that as the number of surgical procedures performed at a center increased, so did the likelihood of utilizing minimally invasive approaches, suggesting a shift in clinical practice beyond current national guidelines.
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Background: We initiated a prospective screening trial in patients with hepatitis to diagnose HCC in the early stage and to evaluate the impact on long-term survival. Methods: From 1993−2006, 10,372 patients with chronic hepatitis B (14%), hepatitis C (81%), or both (5%) were enrolled in an HCC screening program. All patients underwent liver biopsy at enrollment.

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Up to 28% of all patients who undergo open surgery will develop a ventral hernia (VH) in the post-operative period. VH surgery is a debated topic in the literature, especially in oncological patients due to complex management. We searched in the surgical database of the Hepatobiliary Unit of the National Cancer Institute of Naples "G.

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Purpose: Surgery, radiotherapy, and oncological treatment (chemotherapy and antineoplastic antibodies) are standard treatments of rectal cancer. ECT has shown its effectiveness and suitability in deep solid tumors conducted in both preclinical and clinical studies. We show here an update and preliminary results with locally advanced rectum cancer (LARC) treated with ECT.

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Background: Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) is the second most common primary liver cancer and is characterized by an aggressive behavior and a dismal prognosis. Radical surgical resection represents the only potentially curative treatment. Despite the increasing acceptance of laparoscopic liver resection for surgical treatment of malignant liver diseases, its use for ICC is not commonly performed.

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Background: Eighty percent of patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma present a locally advanced or metastatic disease at diagnosis and are not eligible for surgery if not with palliative intent. In cases of locally advanced disease (LAPC), the combination of chemo and radiotherapy is the only therapeutic option and correlates with a median survival of 15 months (10 months without treatment), with partial remission of disease in 50% of cases. The feasibility and safety of Electrochemotherapy (ECT) have been demonstrated in the treatment of deep tumors.

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Background: Currently, the technologies most commonly used to treat locally advanced pancreatic cancer are radiofrequency ablation (RFA), microwave ablation, and irreversible (IRE) or reversible electroporation combined with low doses of chemotherapeutic drugs.

Aim: To report an overview and updates on ablative techniques in pancreatic cancer.

Methods: Several electronic databases were searched.

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Background: Imaging methods and the most appropriate criteria to be used for detecting and evaluating response to oncological treatments depend on the pathology and anatomical site to be treated and on the treatment to be performed. This document provides a general overview of the main imaging and histopathological findings of electroporation-based treatments (Electrochemotherapy-ECT and Irreversible electroporation-IRE) compared to thermal approach, such as radiofrequency ablation (RFA), in deep-seated cancers with a particular attention to pancreatic and liver cancer.

Methods: Numerous electronic datasets were examined: PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science and Google Scholar.

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Objective: To assess local disease control rates (LDCR) and overall survival (OS) in locally advanced pancreatic cancer (LAPC) treated with electrochemotherapy (ECT).

Methods: Electrochemotherapy with bleomycin was performed in 25 LAPC patients who underwent baseline Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and/or Computed Tomography (CT) and Position Emission Tomography (PET) scans before ECT and 1 and 6 months post ECT. LDCR were assessed using Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST 1.

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Background: Biloma, an encapsulated collection of bile outside the biliary tree, supported by a predominantly iatrogenic biliary fistula, and bile likeage are two of the most important surgical complications after liver resection. We, hypothesized to conduct a project aimed to prevent, or reduce, the formation of biloma or biliary fistula applying on the hepatic resection area the cyanoacrylate glue (Glubran2).

Methods: We searched in our surgical database all patients underwent liver resection for mCRC from January 2013 to December 2018 and we found a total of 510 patients.

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This article provides an overview of imaging assessment of ablated pancreatic cancer. Only studies reporting radiological assessment on pancreatic ablated cancer were retained. We found 16 clinical studies that satisfied the inclusion criteria.

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COVID-19 pandemic following the outbreak in China and Western Europe, where it finally lost the momentum, is now devastating North and South America. It has not been identified the reason and the molecular mechanisms of the two different patterns of the pulmonary host responses to the virus from a minimal disease in young subjects to a severe distress syndrome (ARDS) in older subjects, particularly those with previous chronic diseases (including diabetes) and cancer. The Management of the Istituto Nazionale Tumori - IRCCS "Fondazione Pascale" in Naples (INT-Pascale), along with all Health professionals decided not to interrupt the treatment of those hospitalized and to continue, even if after a careful triage in order not to allow SARS-CoV-2 positive subjects to access, to take care of cancer patients with serious conditions.

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Background: MRI is the most reliable imaging modality that allows to assess liver metastases. Our purpose is to compare the per-lesion and per-patient detection rate of gadoxetic acid-(Gd-EOB) enhanced liver MRI and fast MR protocol including Diffusion Weighted Imaging (DWI) and T2-W Fat Suppression sequence in the detection of liver metastasis in pre surgical setting.

Methods: One hundred and eight patients with pathologically proven liver metastases (756 liver metastases) underwent Gd-EOBMRI were enrolled in this study.

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Objective: To conduct a systematic literature review of imaging techniques and findings in patients with peribiliary liver metastasis.

Methods: Several electronic datasets were searched from January 1990 to June 2017 to identify studies assessing the use of different imaging techniques for the detection and staging of peribiliary metastases.

Results: The search identified 44 studies, of which six met the inclusion criteria and were included in the systematic review.

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Background: Despite great technical advances in imaging, such as multidetector computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), diagnosing pancreatic solid lesions correctly remains challenging, due to overlapping imaging features with benign lesions. We wanted to evaluate functional MRI to differentiate pancreatic tumors, peritumoral inflammatory tissue, and normal pancreatic parenchyma by means of dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI)-, diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI)-, and intravoxel incoherent motion model (IVIM) diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI)-derived parameters.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 24 patients, each with histopathological diagnosis of pancreatic tumor, and 24 patients without pancreatic lesions.

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