Factors influencing 5-year persistence to adjuvant endocrine therapy in young women with breast cancer.

Purpose: Although younger age has been negatively associated with persistence to adjuvant endocrine therapy (ET), factors contributing to non-persistence remain poorly understood. We assessed factors associated with non-persistence to ET and described the 5-year trajectories of quality of life (QoL) and symptoms in young women (≤40 years) with hormone receptor-positive breast cancer (BC).

Methods: We retrieved data on clinical characteristics and non-persistence from the medical annual records in the European cohort of the "Helping Ourselves, Helping Others: The Young Women's BC Study" (IBCSG 43-09 HOHO).

Changes in body composition in early breast cancer patients treated with aromatase inhibitors.

Purpose: The aim of the study was to analyze the modification of total and regional body composition in early breast cancer patients treated with aromatase inhibitors (AIs).

Methods: This is a prospective, single-center, observational, longitudinal study. Four-hundred and twenty-eight patients treated with adjuvant aromatase inhibitors were enrolled at the Medical Oncology and Breast Unit of Spedali Civili Hospital in Brescia from September 2014 to June 2022.

Real-world use of multigene signatures in early breast cancer: differences to clinical trials.

Purpose: In Italy, Lombardy was the first region to reimburse multigene assays (MGAs) for patients otherwise candidates for chemotherapy. This is a real-world experience of MGAs usage in six referral cancer centers in Lombardy.

Methods: Among MGAs, Oncotype DX (RS) was used in 97% of cases.

Predictive Modeling of COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit Patient Flows and Nursing Complexity: A Monte Carlo Simulation Study.

This study aimed to develop a Monte Carlo simulation model to forecast the number of ICU beds needed for COVID-19 patients and the subsequent nursing complexity in a French teaching hospital during the first and second pandemic outbreaks. The model used patient data from March 2020 to September 2021, including age, sex, ICU length of stay, and number of patients on mechanical ventilation or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. Nursing complexity was assessed using a simple scale with three levels based on patient status.

Fat Body Mass and Vertebral Fracture Progression in Women With Breast Cancer.

Importance: Women with early breast cancer (EBC) exposed to aromatase inhibitors (AIs) may experience fragility fractures despite treatment with bone-active drugs. Risk factors for fractures in patients receiving AIs and denosumab have not been explored to date.

Objectives: To evaluate whether an association exists between dual x-ray absorptiometry (DXA)-measured fat body mass (FBM) and vertebral fracture (VF) progression in postmenopausal women with EBC undergoing adjuvant therapy with AIs in combination with denosumab and to examine whether VF was associated with common risk factors for bone fracture and parameters of body composition other than FBM.

Breaking barriers in triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) - Unleashing the power of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs).

Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) represent a novel class of molecules composed of a recombinant monoclonal antibody targeted to a specific cell surface antigen, conjugated to a cytotoxic agent through a cleavable or non-cleavable synthetic linker. The rationale behind the development of ADCs is to overcome the limitations of conventional chemotherapy, such as the narrow therapeutic window and the emergence of resistance mechanisms. ADCs had already revolutionized the treatment algorithm of HER2-positive breast cancer.

The Effectiveness of the Buzzy Device in Reducing Pain in Children Undergoing Venipuncture: A Single-Center Experience.

Objectives: Needle-related procedures are among the most important sources of pain in children in different health care settings. Our study was aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of Buzzy (MMJ Labs, Atlanta, Ga.), a palm-sized bee/ladybug-shaped device combining vibration and cold, as a nonpharmacological strategy to manage needle-related pain in children.

COVID-19 severity appears to be reduced in spring/summer.

Background: because of different human behaviours, SARS-CoV-2 spread may be lower in spring/summer. On the contrary, it is not clearly known whether the clinical course/severity of hospitalized patients infected by SARS-CoV-2 can be different in the various seasons..

Multigene signatures for early breast cancer in clinical practice: A report of the Lombardy genomic assays for breast cancer working group.

The increasing understanding of breast cancer biology has provided the basis for the development of multigene signatures aimed to improve the capability of clinicians to assess patients' prognostication and risk stratification. Incorporating these tools in clinical practice has profoundly impacted on the decision-making process for the adjuvant therapy of patients with ER+/HER2- early breast cancer and the results from prospective adjuvant trials have strengthened the clinical utility of multigene signatures in this setting. In July 2019, Lombardy was the first Region in Italy to reimburse genomic testing for patients with ER+/HER2- early breast cancer.

Assessment of DXA derived bone quality indexes and bone geometry parameters in early breast cancer patients: A single center cross-sectional study.

Background: Bone mineral density (BMD) lacks sensitivity in individual fracture risk assessment in early breast cancer (EBC) patients treated with aromatase inhibitors (AIs). New dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) based risk factors are needed.

Methods: Trabecular bone score (TBS), bone strain index (BSI) and DXA parameters of bone geometry were evaluated in postmenopausal women diagnosed with EBC.

Real-World Effectiveness of Denosumab and Bisphosphonates on Risk of Vertebral Fractures in Women with Breast Cancer Undergoing Treatment with Aromatase Inhibitors.

Bone-active drugs are recommended to protect the skeleton from detrimental actions of aromatase inhibitors (AIs). However, most of literature data are focused on bone mineral density (BMD), whereas data on fractures are scant. The aim of this prospective study was to investigate the real-life effectiveness of denosumab, oral bisphosphonates (BPs) and intravenous zoledronate on risk of vertebral fractures (VFs) induced by AIs.

Taste Alterations Do Not Affect Change in Food Habits and Body Weight in Breast Cancer Patients.

Background/aim: Chemotherapy-induced taste alterations (TAs) affect approximately 53-84% of breast cancer patients with significant consequences on flavor perception, possibly leading to food aversion and changes in daily dietary habits. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between TAs and changes in food habits and body weight among early breast cancer (EBC) patients undergoing adjuvant chemotherapy.

Patients And Methods: TAs were prospectively evaluated in 182 EBC patients from April 2014 to June 2018.

Employment trajectories of young women with breast cancer: an ongoing prospective cohort study in Italy and Switzerland.

Purpose: Despite extensive research on cancer and work-related outcomes, evidence from longitudinal cohort studies is limited, especially in young women with breast cancer (BC). We aimed to investigate employment trajectories in young BC survivors and to identify potential factors associated with changes in work activity.

Methods: The HOHO European prospective multicenter cohort study enrolled 300 young women (≤ 40 years) with newly diagnosed BC.

Taste alterations during neo/adjuvant chemotherapy and subsequent follow-up in breast cancer patients: a prospective single-center clinical study.

Purpose: Dysgeusia and taste alterations (TAs) are side effects of cytotoxic chemotherapy and affect patients' quality of life; however, the prevalence, types, and duration of TAs and their potential relationship with other clinical disturbances are not well-described. Our primary aim was to prospectively evaluate the characteristics of TAs in early breast cancer (EBC) patients during (neo)adjuvant chemotherapy and up to 1 year after its completion.

Methods: From April 2014 to June 2018, 182 EBC patients entered the study and received (neo)adjuvant chemotherapy, mostly with taxane and anthracycline-containing regimens (65% of cases).

Prediction of vertebral fractures in cancer patients undergoing hormone deprivation therapies: Reliability of who fracture risk assessment tool (frax) and bone mineral density in real-life clinical practice.

Background And Objective: Prediction of fractures in cancer survivors exposed to hormone-deprivation therapies (HDTs) is a challenge since bone loss is rapid and severe, and determinants of fractures in this setting are still largely unknown. In this study we investigated reliability of the WHO Fracture Risk Assessment Tool (FRAX) and bone mineral density (BMD) to identify subjects developing vertebral fractures during HDTs.

Design: Five-hundred-twenty-seven consecutive subjects (429 females with breast cancer, 98 males with prostate cancer; median age 61 years), under HDTs for at least 6 months, were evaluated for vertebral fractures by a radiological and morphometric approach, in relationship with FRAX score, body mass index (BMI), BMD, age and duration of HDTs.

Continuous versus intermittent extended adjuvant letrozole for breast cancer: final results of randomized phase III SOLE (Study of Letrozole Extension) and SOLE Estrogen Substudy.

Background: Late recurrences in postmenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive breast cancers remain an important challenge. Avoidance or delayed development of resistance represents the main objective in extended endocrine therapy (ET). In animal models, resistance was reversed with restoration of circulating estrogen levels during interruption of letrozole treatment.

Changes in eating habits and food preferences in breast cancer patients undergoing adjuvant chemotherapy.

Change in eating habits in early breast cancer (EBC) patients during chemotherapy has been poorly studied in the literature. The primary aim of this study was to prospectively evaluate food preferences and weight change in EBC patients before and after adjuvant chemotherapy. From April 2014 to June 2018, 205 EBC patients underwent a dietary assessment according to the following timeline: baseline evaluation (one week before starting chemotherapy, T0); first follow-up (approximately 2-3 months after starting chemotherapy, T1); final follow-up (one week after chemotherapy end, T2).

Genomic Aberrations and Late Recurrence in Postmenopausal Women with Hormone Receptor-positive Early Breast Cancer: Results from the SOLE Trial.

Purpose: Women with hormone receptor-positive early breast cancers have a persistent risk of relapse and biomarkers for late recurrence are needed. We sought to identify tumor genomic aberrations associated with increased late-recurrence risk.

Experimental Design: In a secondary analysis of Study of Letrozole Extension trial, a case-cohort-like sampling selected 598 primary breast cancers for targeted next-generation sequencing analysis of gene mutations and copy-number gains (CNGs).

Efficacy of the DigniCap System in preventing chemotherapy-induced alopecia in breast cancer patients is not related to patient characteristics or side effects of the device.

Background: The DigniCap System is an effective scalp cooling device for the prevention of chemotherapy-induced alopecia in early breast cancer patients.

Aim: This prospective study was designed to confirm the efficacy and tolerability of the device, to explore potential factors associated with its efficacy and to collect data on patient perceptions and satisfaction.

Methods: Between January 2016 and June 2018, 163 early breast cancer patients eligible for adjuvant chemotherapy were enrolled.