The Deterioration of Sarcopenia Post-Transarterial Radioembolization with Holmium-166 Serves as a Predictor for Disease Progression at 3 Months in Patients with Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Pilot Study.

Purpose: The aim of this pilot study is to explore the relationship between changes in sarcopenia before and after one to three months of Transarterial Radioembolization (TARE) treatment with Holmium-166 (166Ho) and its effect on the rate of local response. Our primary objective is to assess whether the worsening of sarcopenia can function as an early indicator of a subgroup of patients at increased risk of disease progression in cases of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Methods: A single-center retrospective analysis was performed on 25 patients with HCC who underwent 166Ho-TARE.

Quantitative ultrasound radiomics analysis to evaluate lymph nodes in patients with cancer: a systematic review.

This systematic review aims to evaluate the role of ultrasound (US) radiomics in assessing lymphadenopathy in patients with cancer and the ability of radiomics to predict metastatic lymph node involvement. A systematic literature search was performed in the PubMed (MEDLINE), Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), and EMBASE (Ovid) databases up to June 13, 2023. 42 articles were included in which the lymph node mass was assessed with a US exam, and the analysis was performed using radiomics methods.

Multiple Brain Metastases Radiosurgery with CyberKnife Device: Dosimetric Comparison between Fixed/Iris and Multileaf Collimator Plans.

Purpose: In our institution, stereotactic radiosurgery of multiple brain metastases is performed with the CyberKnife® (CK) device, using fixed/Iris collimators. In this study, nineteen fixed/Iris plans were recalculated with the multileaf collimator (MLC), to assess if it is possible to produce plans with comparable dosimetric overall quality.

Materials And Methods: For consistent comparisons, MLC plans were re-optimized and re-normalized in order to achieve the same minimum dose for the total planning target volume (PTV).

Management of Acute Cholecystitis in High-Risk Patients: Percutaneous Gallbladder Drainage as a Definitive Treatment vs. Emergency Cholecystectomy-Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background: This systematic review aims to investigate whether percutaneous transhepatic gallbladder biliary drainage (PTGBD) is superior to emergency cholecystectomy (EC) as a definitive treatment in high-risk patients with acute cholecystitis (AC).

Material And Methods: A systematic literature search was performed until December 2022 using the Scopus, Medline/PubMed and Web of Science databases.

Results: Seventeen studies have been included with a total of 783,672 patients (32,634 treated with PTGBD vs.

Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Melanoma: Treatment Management Implications.

Artificial intelligence (AI), a field of research in which computers are applied to mimic humans, is continuously expanding and influencing many aspects of our lives. From electric cars to search motors, AI helps us manage our daily lives by simplifying functions and activities that would be more complex otherwise. Even in the medical field, and specifically in oncology, many studies in recent years have highlighted the possible helping role that AI could play in clinical and therapeutic patient management.

In Vivo Comparison of Micro-Balloon Interventions (MBI) Advantage: A Retrospective Cohort Study of DEB-TACE Versus b-TACE and of SIRT Versus b-SIRT.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate in vivo the role of the micro-balloon by comparing trans-arterial chemoembolization (DEB-TACE) and selective internal radiotherapy (SIRT) procedures performed with and without balloon micro-catheter (b-DEB-TACE and DEB-TACE/SIRT and b-SIRT) for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Methods: The impact of a balloon micro-catheter on trans-arterial loco-regional treatment was analyzed using non-enhanced post-procedural cone-beam CT (Ne-CBCT) by comparing the attenuation values in the embolized area and the surrounding liver tissue before and after DEB-TACE versus b-DEB-TACE and by comparing 2D/3D dosimetry in single-photon emission computed tomography after SIRT versus b-SIRT, and by comparing the histological count of the beads following orthotopic liver transplantation in the DEB-TACE versus b-DEB-TACE subgroup.

Results: We treated 84 HCC patients using trans-arterial loco-regional therapy.

Exploring CT Texture Parameters as Predictive and Response Imaging Biomarkers of Survival in Patients With Metastatic Melanoma Treated With PD-1 Inhibitor Nivolumab: A Pilot Study Using a Delta-Radiomics Approach.

In the era of artificial intelligence and precision medicine, the use of quantitative imaging methodological approaches could improve the cancer patient's therapeutic approaches. Specifically, our pilot study aims to explore whether CT texture features on both baseline and first post-treatment contrast-enhanced CT may act as a predictor of overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) in metastatic melanoma (MM) patients treated with the PD-1 inhibitor Nivolumab. Ninety-four lesions from 32 patients treated with Nivolumab were analyzed.

The role of dosimetry and biological effects in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) patients treated with Ra: first in human study.

Background: Ra is currently used for treatment of metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer patients (mCRPC) bone metastases with fixed standard activity. Individualized treatments, based on adsorbed dose (AD) in target and non-target tissue, are absolutely needed to optimize efficacy while reducing toxicity of α-emitter targeted therapy. This is a pilot first in human clinical trial aimed to correlate dosimetry, clinical response and biological side effects to personalize Ra treatment.

Sarcopenia Worsening One Month after Transarterial Radioembolization Predicts Progressive Disease in Patients with Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

(1) Background: To demonstrate correlation between skeletal muscle depletion measured before and after one month of TARE treatment and its induced local response rate. (2) Material and methods: For this retrospective, single center study, we evaluated 86 patients with HCC treated with TARE. Sarcopenia status was measured using the psoas muscle index (PMI).

Precision Medicine and Melanoma: Multi-Omics Approaches to Monitoring the Immunotherapy Response.

The treatment and management of patients with metastatic melanoma have evolved considerably in the "era" of personalized medicine. Melanoma was one of the first solid tumors to benefit from immunotherapy; life expectancy for patients in advanced stage of disease has improved. However, many progresses have yet to be made considering the (still) high number of patients who do not respond to therapies or who suffer adverse events.

Stereotactic body radiotherapy for T1 glottic cancer: dosimetric data in 27 consecutive patients.

Aim: Because the clinical feasibility of stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) for early glottic cancer (T1) is controversial, we report dosimetric results in 27 consecutive patients from a prospective phase I and II study that started in 2017.

Methods: In our approach, only the parts of the true vocal cord containing cancer and those immediately adjacent are planned to be treated to 36 Gy and 30 Gy, respectively, in 3 fractions. Several dosimetric metrics for both target volumes and organs at risk were extracted from individual plans and results were compared to those achieved by other authors in a similar setting.

Novel cancer therapies for advanced cutaneous melanoma: The added value of radiomics in the decision making process-A systematic review.

Advanced malignant melanoma represents a public health matter due to its rising incidence and aggressiveness. Novel therapies such as immunotherapy are showing promising results with improved progression free and overall survival in melanoma patients. However, novel targeted and immunotherapies could generate atypical patterns of response which are nowadays a big challenge since imaging criteria (ie Recist 1.

Absorbed dose measurements from a Y radionuclide liquid solution using LiF:Mg,Cu,P thermoluminescent dosimeters.

In the last few years there has been an increasing interest in the measurement of the absorbed dose from radionuclides, with special attention devoted to molecular radiotherapy treatments. In particular, the determination of the absorbed dose from beta emitting radionuclides in liquid solution poses a number of issues when dose measurements are performed using thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLD). Finite volume effect, i.

Radiobiological Optimization in Lung Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy: Are We Ready to Apply Radiobiological Models?

Lung tumors are often associated with a poor prognosis although different schedules and treatment modalities have been extensively tested in the clinical practice. The complexity of this disease and the use of combined therapeutic approaches have been investigated and the use of high dose-rates is emerging as effective strategy. Technological improvements of clinical linear accelerators allow combining high dose-rate and a more conformal dose delivery with accurate imaging modalities pre- and during therapy.

The usefulness of sLORETA in evaluating the effect of high-dose ARA-C on brain connectivity in patients with acute myeloid leukemia: an exploratory study.

Cytosine arabinoside (Ara-C) is one of the key drugs for treating acute myeloid leukemia (AML). High intravenous doses may produce a number of central nervous system (CNS) toxicities and contribute to modifications in brain functional connectivity. sLORETA is a software used for localizing brain electrical activity and functional connectivity.

Quantitative Lu SPECT imaging using advanced correction algorithms in non-reference geometry.

Peptide receptor therapy with Lu-labelled somatostatin analogues is a promising tool in the management of patients with inoperable or metastasized neuroendocrine tumours. The aim of this work was to perform accurate activity quantification of Lu in complex anthropomorphic geometry using advanced correction algorithms. Acquisitions were performed on the higher Lu photopeak (208keV) using a Philips IRIX gamma camera provided with medium-energy collimators.

Gamma camera calibration and validation for quantitative SPECT imaging with (177)Lu.

Over the last years (177)Lu has received considerable attention from the clinical nuclear medicine community thanks to its wide range of applications in molecular radiotherapy, especially in peptide-receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT). In addition to short-range beta particles, (177)Lu emits low energy gamma radiation of 113keV and 208keV that allows gamma camera quantitative imaging. Despite quantitative cancer imaging in molecular radiotherapy having been proven to be a key instrument for the assessment of therapeutic response, at present no general clinically accepted quantitative imaging protocol exists and absolute quantification studies are usually based on individual initiatives.

Physical and dosimetric optimization of laser equipment in dermatology: a preliminary study.

The aim of this preliminary study is to investigate the correlation between clinical set-up at present used in the treatment of specific skin conditions and laser beam absorbed power in the tissue. This study focused on the CO2 and Nd-Yag laser equipment used in the daily clinical practice in the Department of Dermatology of San Gallicano Institute in Rome. Different types of tissue-equivalent material with various water and haemoglobin concentrations were tested to evaluate laser beam attenuation power.

[Congenital dilatation of the biliary system in adult: about three clinical cases].

The authors refer to three cases of congenital dilatation of the biliary system in an adult, an extremely rare pathology in the West, with no specific symptomatology, and therefore often discovered accidentally and unexpectedly The first patient had suffered from unexplained periods of fever since childhood, the second had only complained of vague abdominal pains a years before diagnosis; for the third, a Romanian woman, it was the first time she complained of a biliary colic. All the patients had an Ultrasound, a CT scan and a MRCP (magnetic resonance cholangiopancretography). Based on the Todani classification, the first and the third case belongs to type IV A, while the second is a type I.

[Conservative... and non conservative... treatment of renal blunt injuries].

Whether patients with blunt renal trauma should be managed conservatively without surgery or undergo surgery is often hard to decide. We describe three clinical cases of blunt renal trauma, all involving the left kidney. All three patients had abdominal ultrasound studies and computerized tomographic (CT) scans.

[Splenic artery rupture in pancreatic pseudocyst].

Hemorrhage is one of the most threatening complication of pancreatic pseudocyst. It results from erosion of adjacent vessels. Splenic, gastroduodenal, pancreaticoduodenal and middle colic vessels are predominantly involved.