Publications by authors named "Sara Moscovita Falzarano"

Several clinicopathological features of clear cell renal cell carcinomas (ccRCC) contribute to make an "atypical" cancer, including resistance to chemotherapy, sensitivity to anti-angiogenesis therapy and ICIs despite a low mutational burden, and CD8 T cell infiltration being the predictor for poor prognosis-normally CD8 T cell infiltration is a good prognostic factor in cancer patients. These "atypical" features have brought researchers to investigate the molecular and immunological mechanisms that lead to the increased T cell infiltrates despite relatively low molecular burdens, as well as to decipher the immune landscape that leads to better response to ICIs. In the present study, we summarize the past and ongoing pivotal clinical trials of immunotherapies for ccRCC, emphasizing the potential molecular and cellular mechanisms that lead to the success or failure of ICI therapy.

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Standard treatment for metastatic prostate cancer (CaP) prevents ligand-activation of androgen receptor (AR). Despite initial remission, CaP progresses while relying on AR. AR transcriptional output controls CaP behavior and is an alternative therapeutic target, but its molecular regulation is poorly understood.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study focused on evaluating gene expression in normal-looking tissues next to prostate tumors to see if it could help predict clinical recurrence of cancer after surgery.
  • Researchers identified 46 genes linked to recurrence, many of which also corresponded to expressions in tumor tissue, indicating that both tissue types may share relevant biological markers.
  • The findings, particularly involving the Genomic Prostate Score (GPS), suggest that gene expression patterns in adjacent non-tumor tissue can signal aggressive prostate cancer, highlighting a significant "field effect" influencing the disease's outcome.
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TMPRSS2-ERG is a recurrent rearrangement specific for prostate cancer, leading to the overexpression of a truncated ERG protein product that is amenable to immunohistochemical detection. Two monoclonal anti-ERG antibodies have currently been validated, with comparable sensitivity and specificity for detecting ERG rearrangement. ERG immunostaining has been applied in different settings to elucidate the role of ERG rearrangement and overexpression in prostate cancer tumorigenesis and progression, as well as to investigate potential diagnostic and prognostic applications.

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TMPRSS2-ERG, the most common gene fusion in prostate cancer, is associated with expression of a truncated protein product of the oncogene ERG. A novel anti-ERG monoclonal antibody has been recently characterized. We investigated the correlation between ERG rearrangement assessed by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and ERG expression detected by immunohistochemistry in a large cohort of patients treated with radical prostatectomy for clinically localized prostate cancer.

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Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing has been associated with a sharp increase in prostate cancer (PCA) detection after its introduction in the late 1980s. Since its launch and its implementation as diagnostic test in 1994, temporal patterns in patients' age and serum PSA level at presentation have changed, with younger patients being diagnosed at lower PSA cutoff levels. Many studies suggest that PSA screening has resulted in a profound downward migration in clinical and pathologic stage of newly diagnosed PCA, although the effect has slowed in the most recent years.

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Small bowel metastases from renal cell carcinoma (RCC) are very rare. Clinical presentation includes obstruction, bleeding, intussusception and rarely perforation. We report a case of a 48-year-old female presenting a jejunal intussusception due to intestinal metastasis from RCC.

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