High charge of cerebroid nests in nodular melanomas predicts tumor aggressiveness and high mutational tumoral burden: a pilot study.

Purpose: Even today, melanoma is a highly aggressive neoplasm with a high mortality rate. The nodular type is very aggressive and has cerebroid nests of melanocytes (CNMs) at the growth edge, morphologically similar to the poorly differentiated neoplastic epithelial cell clusters described in colorectal, breast, and endometrioid endometrial cancers.

Patients And Methods: We selected 25 nodular melanomas (NMs) with known molecular profiles, of which the entire paraffin-embedded lesion was available.

A MiR181/Sirtuin1 regulatory circuit modulates drug response in biliary cancers.

Despite recent advances, biliary tract cancer (BTC) remains one of the most lethal tumor worldwide due to late diagnosis, limited therapeutic strategies and resistance to conventional therapies. In recent years, high-throughput technologies have enabled extensive genome, and transcriptome sequencing unveiling, among others, the regulatory potential of microRNAs (miRNAs). Compelling evidence shown that miRNA are attractive therapeutic targets and promising candidates as biomarkers for various therapy-resistant tumors.

Nutrient restriction-activated Fra-2 promotes tumor progression via IGF1R in miR-15a downmodulated pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a lethal disease, characterized by an intense desmoplastic reaction that compresses blood vessels and limits nutrient supplies. PDAC aggressiveness largely relies on its extraordinary capability to thrive and progress in a challenging tumor microenvironment. Dysregulation of the onco-suppressor miR-15a has been extensively documented in PDAC.

Revolutionizing Cancer Research: The Impact of Artificial Intelligence in Digital Biobanking.

Background: Biobanks are vital research infrastructures aiming to collect, process, store, and distribute biological specimens along with associated data in an organized and governed manner. Exploiting diverse datasets produced by the biobanks and the downstream research from various sources and integrating bioinformatics and "omics" data has proven instrumental in advancing research such as cancer research. Biobanks offer different types of biological samples matched with rich datasets comprising clinicopathologic information.

Research of Prostate Cancer Urinary Diagnostic Biomarkers by Proteomics: The Noteworthy Influence of Inflammation.

Nowadays, in the case of suspected prostate cancer (PCa), tissue needle biopsy remains the benchmark for diagnosis despite its invasiveness and poor tolerability, as serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is limited by low specificity. The aim of this proteomic study was to identify new diagnostic biomarkers in urine, an easily and non-invasively available sample, able to selectively discriminate cancer from benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), evaluating whether the presence of inflammation may be a confounding parameter. The analysis was performed by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE), mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) and Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) on urine samples from PCa and BPH patients, divided into subgroups based on the presence or absence of inflammation.

Digital real-time microscopy of ex-vivo tissues: A novel strategy to control surgical accuracy.

Introduction: Ex-vivo FCM is a novel digital optical technique that provides images of fresh tissues in a real-time fashion with magnification to subcellular details of a flattened unprocessed sample. Digital images are hematoxylin-eosin-like and can be shared and interpreted remotely. In urology, FCM has been successfully applied for prostate tissue interpretation, either during biopsy and radical prostatectomy.

Clinical Significance of Molecular Subtypes in Western Advanced Gastric Cancer: A Real-World Multicenter Experience.

In recent years, the molecular subtyping of gastric cancer has led to the identification of novel clinically relevant biomarkers as well as promising therapeutic targets. In parallel, the advent of checkpoint inhibitors has expanded treatment options beyond conventional chemotherapy. Compelling evidence has shown unprecedented efficacy results for anti-PD1-based therapies in the molecular subgroups of dMMR/MSI-h, EBV+ and PD-L1 CPS+ patients, to the point that these are granted approval for gastric cancer adenocarcinoma (AGC) in several countries.

New digital confocal laser microscopy may boost real-time evaluation of endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle biopsy (EUS-FNB) from solid pancreatic lesions: Data from an international multicenter study.

Background: Pancreatic cancer is an aggressive malignancy and a leading cause of cancer death worldwide; its lethality is partly linked to the difficulty of early diagnosis. Modern devices for endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle biopsy (EUS-FNB) were recently developed to improve targeting and sampling of small lesions, but innovative technologies for microscopic assessment are still lacking. Ex vivo fluorescence confocal laser microscopy (FCM) is a new digital tool for real-time microscopic assessment of fresh unfixed biological specimens, avoiding conventional histological slide preparation and potentially being highly appealing for EUS-FNB specimens.

Biallelic Mutations in a Family with Uncommon Clinical and Molecular Features.

We describe a patient with constitutional mismatch repair-deficiency (CMMR-D) in whom the syndrome started at age 10 with the development of multiple adenomas in the large bowel. In the successive 25 years, four malignancies developed in different organs (rectum, ileum, duodenum, and lymphoid tissue). The patient had biallelic constitutional pathogenic variants in the gene.

CtDNA-guided rechallenge with anti-EGFR therapy in RASwt metastatic colorectal cancer: Evidence from clinical practice.

Aim: To apply extended ctDNA-based RAS genotyping to clinical criteria for improving the selection of patients eligible for anti-EGFR-based rechallenge in a real-world setting.

Methods: ctDNA testing was prospectively applied to RASwt mCRC progressed after a first-line anti-EGFR-containing regimen and at least one other line. The primary endpoint was the objective response rate.

Effects of Energy Drink Acute Assumption in Gastrointestinal Tract of Rats.

Energy drinks (EDs) are non-alcoholic beverages containing high amounts of caffeine and other psychoactive substances. EDs also contain herbal extract whose concentration is usually unknown. EDs can have several adverse effects on different organs and systems, but their effects on the gastrointestinal (GI) tract have been poorly investigated.

Expression of Autophagic and Inflammatory Markers in Normal Mucosa of Individuals with Colorectal Adenomas: A Cross Sectional Study among Italian Outpatients Undergoing Colonoscopy.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) ranks among the three most common cancers in terms of both cancer incidence and cancer-related deaths in Western industrialized countries. Lifetime risk of colorectal cancer may reach 6% of the population living in developed countries. In the current era of personalized medicine, CRC is no longer considered as a single entity.

Development and Multicentre Validation of the Modena Score to Predict Survival in Advanced Biliary Cancers Undergoing Second-Line Chemotherapy.

Background: The role of second-line chemotherapy in advanced biliary cancers (ABCs) has only recently been established in phase III randomized trial and the optimal selection of patients most likely to benefit from it remains challenging.

Methods: A cohort of 98 ABC treated second-line chemotherapy was used as a developmental dataset to identify covariates independently associated with overall survival (OS). Kaplan-Meier analysis was used to investigate the association between variables and OS and those retaining statistically significance were combined in a multiplexed score.

Alternative splicing of NF-YA promotes prostate cancer aggressiveness and represents a new molecular marker for clinical stratification of patients.

Background: Approaches based on expression signatures of prostate cancer (PCa) have been proposed to predict patient outcomes and response to treatments. The transcription factor NF-Y participates to the progression from benign epithelium to both localized and metastatic PCa and is associated with aggressive transcriptional profile. The gene encoding for NF-YA, the DNA-binding subunit of NF-Y, produces two alternatively spliced transcripts, NF-YAs and NF-YAl.

TRAIL receptors are expressed in both malignant and stromal cells in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

This study assesses the expression of all TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) receptors in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) tumor tissue. We aimed to include TRAIL receptor expression as an inclusion parameter in a future clinical study using a TRAIL-based therapy approach for PDAC patients. Considering the emerging influence of PDAC desmoplastic stroma on the efficacy of anti-PDAC therapies, this analysis was extended to tumor stromal cells.

Cutaneous Metastasis from Colorectal Cancer: Making Light on an Unusual and Misdiagnosed Event.

Cutaneous metastasis from solid tumors is a rare event and usually represents a late occurrence in the natural history of an advanced visceral malignancy. Rarely, cutaneous metastasis has been described in colorectal cancer patients. The most frequent cutaneous site of colorectal metastasis is the surgical scar in the abdomen following the removal of the primary malignancy, followed by the extremities, perineum, head, neck, and penis.

Histology of IBD and related colitides in the elderly.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are chronic relapsing diseases, affecting both children and adults with a life-long duration. An increased co-morbidity gives raise to fragility in the elderly. In this regard it should consider that several non-IBD colitides may mimic both ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease.

Digital Frozen Sections with Fluorescence Confocal Microscopy During Robot-assisted Radical Prostatectomy: Surgical Technique.

Background: Robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) involves a tradeoff between oncological control and functional outcomes. Intraoperative control of surgical margins (SMs) may help in ensuring the safety of the dissection. Fluorescence confocal microscopy (FCM) is an effective method for interpretation of prostate tissue and provides digital images with an appearance similar to hematoxylin-eosin staining.