Vemurafenib plus Rituximab in Refractory or Relapsed Hairy-Cell Leukemia.

Background: Hairy-cell leukemia (HCL) is a CD20+ indolent B-cell cancer in which a BRAF V600E kinase-activating mutation plays a pathogenetic role. In clinical trials involving patients with refractory or relapsed HCL, the targeting of BRAF V600E with the oral BRAF inhibitor vemurafenib led to a response in 91% of the patients; 35% of the patients had a complete response. However, the median relapse-free survival was only 9 months after treatment was stopped.

Platelets: "multiple choice" effectors in the immune response and their implication in COVID-19 thromboinflammatory process.

Although platelets are traditionally recognized for their central role in hemostasis, the presence of chemotactic factors, chemokines, adhesion molecules, and costimulatory molecules in their granules and membranes indicates that they may play an immunomodulatory role in the immune response, flanking their capacity to trigger blood coagulation and inflammation. Indeed, platelets play a role not only in the innate immune response, through the expression of Toll-like receptors (TLRs) and release of inflammatory cytokines, but also in the adaptive immune response, through expression of key costimulatory molecules and major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules capable to activate T cells. Moreover, platelets release huge amounts of extracellular vesicles capable to interact with multiple immune players.

Ionizing radiation exposure from dialysis tunneled catheters procedures: European directive and legal implications.

Background: Advances in medical imaging and interventional procedures have been associated with increased exposure to ionizing radiation. Thus, the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) established uniform safety standards to protect the general public against the dangers arising from ionizing radiations. In Europe, the ICRP standards are listed in the European Directive 2013/59/EURATOM, which should be transposed into national legislation by member states.

Radiation dose from medical imaging in end stage renal disease patients: a Nationwide Italian Survey.

Background And Objectives: End stage renal disease (ESRD) patients are exposed to the risk of ionizing radiation during repeated imaging studies. The variability in diagnostic imaging policies and the accompanying radiation doses across various renal units is still unknown. We studied this variability at the centre level and quantified the associated radiation doses at the patient level.

Opioid overdose risk during and after drug treatment for heroin dependence: An incidence density case-control study nested in the VEdeTTE cohort.

Introduction And Aims: To corroborate protective effects of a range of drug treatment modalities against overdose mortality risk.

Design And Methods: Nested case-control study, with incidence density sampling, selecting controls retrospectively at each case event. Cases and controls came from a sub-cohort of opioid-dependent patients (n = 4444) from two Italian regions (Lazio and Piedmont).

Atypical Progeroid Syndrome and Partial Lipodystrophy Due to Gene p.R349W Mutation.

Atypical progeroid syndrome (APS) comprises heterogeneous disorders characterized by variable degrees of fat loss, metabolic alterations, and comorbidities that affect skeleton, muscles, and/or the heart. We describe 3 patients that were referred to our center for the suspicion of lipodystrophy. They had precocious aging traits such as short stature, mandibular hypoplasia, beaked nose, and partial alopecia manifesting around 10 to 15 years of age recurrently associated with: (1) partial lipodystrophy; (2) proteinuric nephropathy; (3) heart disease (rhythm disorders, valvular abnormalities, and cardiomyopathy); and (4) sensorineural hearing impairment.

Mangomoments - preconditions and impact on patients and families, healthcare professionals and organisations: a multi-method study in Flemish hospitals.

Objective: Understanding how small unexpected acts or gestures by healthcare professionals, known as Mangomoments, are translated into practice, what their preconditions are and what their impact is on patients and families, healthcare professionals and organisations.

Design: A multi-method design was used based on four phases: (1) A (media)campaign to collect Mangomoment stories (n=1045), of which 94% (n=983) were defined as Mangomoments; (2) Semi-structured interviews (n=120); (3) Focus group interviews (n=3); and (4) A consensus meeting.

Setting: Respondents from a hospital and primary care setting.

Management of pulmonary ground-glass opacities: a position paper from a panel of experts of the Italian Society of Thoracic Surgery (SICT).

Objectives: A significant gap in our knowledge of how to manage pulmonary ground-glass opacities (GGOs) still exists. Accordingly, there is a lack of consensus among clinicians on this topic. The Italian Society of Thoracic Surgery (Società Italiana di Chirurgia Toracica, SICT) promoted a national expert meeting to provide insightful guidance for clinical practice.

Generation of an induced pluripotent stem cell line, CSSi011-A (6534), from an Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patient with heterozygous L145F mutation in SOD1 gene.

Among the known causative genes of familial ALS, SOD1mutation is one of the most common. It encodes for the ubiquitous detoxifying copper/zinc binding SOD1 enzyme, whose mutations selectively cause motor neuron death, although the mechanisms are not as yet clear. What is known is that mutant-mediated toxicity is not caused by loss of its detoxifying activity but by a gain-of-function.

Psychosocial empowerment-based interventions for smoking reduction: concepts, measures and outcomes. A systematic review.

Although empowerment is a widely used concept in health-related areas, its definition remains unclear. While there is evidence for the effectiveness of empowerment interventions in improving some psychosocial factors linked to health (e.g.

Advanced Stage Hodgkin Lymphoma: Patient Management.

Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is a rare cancer of the lymphoid system. It clinically presents with swollen lymph nodes and/or systemic symptoms, such as fever, night sweats, or weight loss, as signs of a more advanced stage disease. For the purpose of treatment allocation, HL cases are classified as early-stage favorable, early-stage unfavorable, and advanced-stage disease.

Location of first attack predicts the site of subsequent relapses in multiple sclerosis.

Predictors of attack location in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) are poorly known. It has been suggested that the site of the first relapse may influence the location of the subsequents. We aimed to ascertain this hypothesis in a sample of patients consecutively recruited in two Italian MS Centres, with at least two MS attacks.

Do the socioeconomic context and the European geographical area modify parental influences on smoking experimentation among adolescents?

Adolescent smoking is a major public health problem. While the socioeconomic status (SES) of the neighbourhood and that of the family are known to play a role in smoking onset and progression, it is not clear whether it modifies the association between parental influences and adolescent behaviour. The purpose of this study is to investigate family correlates of adolescent smoking experimentation and to explore the modifying role of socioeconomic context and European geographical area in a sample of European adolescents.

Redefining the prognostic likelihood of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia patients with borderline percentage of immunoglobulin variable heavy chain region mutations.

In chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL), caution is warranted regarding the clinical implications of immunoglobulin variable heavy chain region (IGHV) rearrangements with a 'borderline' (BL) percentage of mutations (i.e. 97-97·9% IGHV identity).

Incidence, predictive factors and survival outcomes of incidental prostate cancer in patients who underwent radical cystectomy for bladder cancer.

Background: The aim of this study was to analyze the incidence, preoperative findings, pathological features and prognosis in patients with incidental prostate cancer (iPCa) detected at radical cystectomy (RC) for bladder cancer (BCa).

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed data of patients who underwent RC for BCa at our Institution between January 2005 and March 2018. Data regarding patient's history, preoperative digital rectal examination (DRE), total serum PSA level were collected from the chart review.

CD49d promotes disease progression in chronic lymphocytic leukemia: new insights from CD49d bimodal expression.

CD49d is a remarkable prognostic biomarker of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). The cutoff value for the extensively validated 30% of positive CLL cells is able to separate CLL patients into 2 subgroups with different prognoses, but it does not consider the pattern of CD49d expression. In the present study, we analyzed a cohort of 1630 CLL samples and identified the presence of ∼20% of CLL cases (n = 313) characterized by a bimodal expression of CD49d, that is, concomitant presence of a CD49d+ subpopulation and a CD49d- subpopulation.

ALS phenotype is influenced by age, sex, and genetics: A population-based study.

Objective: To assess the determinants of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) phenotypes in a population-based cohort.

Methods: The study population included 2,839 patients with ALS diagnosed in Piemonte, Italy (1995-2015). Patients were classified according to motor (classic, bulbar, flail arm, flail leg, predominantly upper motor neuron [PUMN], respiratory) and cognitive phenotypes (normal, ALS with cognitive impairment [ALSci], ALS with behavioral impairment [ALSbi], ALSci and ALSbi combined [ALScbi], ALS-frontotemporal dementia [FTD]).

Lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 predicts lower limb ischemia in hemodialysis subjects.

Hemodialyzed patients (HD) have high prevalence of peripheral arterial disease. In the general population, lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA ) is associated with peripheral arterial disease but no data are available for renal subjects. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between Lp-PLA and lower limb ischemia among dialyzed patients.

Secukinumab for Psoriasis in Obese Patients: Minireview and Clinical Experience.

Psoriasis (PsO) has been associated with obesity, and its severity increases in obese subjects. The link between psoriatic condition and obesity is based on shared pathophysiological pathways where local and systemic inflammation promote each other; PsO is an inflammatory, immune-mediated disease, and the adipose tissue is the source of proinflammatory adipokines. Moreover, psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is an important comorbidity of PsO that reduces quality of life and makes difficult the patient's management.

ICOSLG-mediated regulatory T-cell expansion and IL-10 production promote progression of glioblastoma.

Background: Targeting immune checkpoint proteins has recently gained substantial attention due to the dramatic success of this strategy in clinical trials for some cancers. Inducible T-cell co-stimulator ligand (ICOSLG) is a member of the B7 family of immune regulatory ligands, expression of which in cancer is implicated in disease progression due to regulation of antitumor adaptive immunity. Although aberrant ICOSLG expression has been reported in glioma cells, the underlying mechanisms that promote glioblastoma (GBM) progression remain elusive.