Intraoperative technologies to assess margin status during radical prostatectomy - a narrative review.

Positive surgical margin (PSM) is a frequent concern for surgeons performing radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer (PCa). PSM are recognized as risk factors for earlier biochemical recurrence and expose patients to adjuvant or salvage treatments such as external radiotherapy and hormonotherapy. Several strategies have been established to reduce PSM rate, while still allowing safe nerve-sparing surgery.

Long-term outcome of peripheral T-cell lymphomas: Ten-year follow-up of the International Prospective T-cell Project.

Peripheral T-cell lymphomas (PTCLs) are a heterogeneous group of haematological cancers with generally poor clinical outcomes. However, a subset of patients experience durable disease control, and little is known regarding long-term outcomes. The International T-cell Lymphoma Project (ITCLP) is the largest prospectively collected cohort of patients with PTCLs, providing insight into clinical outcomes at academic medical centres globally.

Impact of persistent PSA after salvage radical prostatectomy: a multicenter study.

Background And Objective: Persistent prostatic specific antigen (PSA) represents a poor prognostic factor for recurrence after radical prostatectomy (RP). However, the impact of persistent PSA on oncologic outcomes in patients undergoing salvage RP is unknown. To investigate the impact of persistent PSA after salvage RP on long-term oncologic outcomes.

State of the Art in Prostate-specific Membrane Antigen-targeted Surgery-A Systematic Review.

Context: Identifying malignant tissue and leaving adjacent structures undisturbed constitute an ongoing challenge in prostate cancer (PCa) surgery. Image and radioguided surgical technologies targeting the prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) receptor may facilitate identification and removal of diseased tissue.

Objective: To perform a systematic review of the clinical studies on PSMA-targeted surgery.

Induction therapy with the MATRix regimen in patients with newly diagnosed primary diffuse large B-cell lymphoma of the central nervous system - an international study of feasibility and efficacy in routine clinical practice.

The MATRix chemoimmunotherapy regimen is highly effective in patients with newly diagnosed primary diffuse large B-cell lymphoma of the central nervous system (PCNSL). However, nothing is known about its feasibility and efficacy in everyday practice, where patients are more often older/frailer than those enrolled in clinical trials. We conducted a retrospective study addressing tolerability/efficacy of MATRix in 156 consecutive patients with newly diagnosed PCNSL treated outside a clinical trial.

Systematic Review of Surgical and Nonsurgical Interventions in Normal Men Complaining of Small Penis Size.

Introduction: Evidence on penile enhancement interventions is lacking. Nonetheless, many non-evidence-based solutions are readily available.

Aim: To investigate enhancement and nonenhancement interventions in men without penile abnormalities seeking to increase penis size.

Comparing Image-guided targeted Biopsies to Radical Prostatectomy Specimens for Accurate Characterization of the Index Tumor in Prostate Cancer.

Aim: To evaluate the accuracy of multiparametric magnetic resonance-transrectal ultrasound fusion targeted biopsy (TBx) in the characterization of the index tumor, as confirmed by association with radical prostatectomy (RP) specimens.

Patients And Methods: A total of 152 patients with TBx-confirmed prostate cancer (PCa) underwent robot-assisted RP. Stained whole-mount histological sections were used as the reference standard.

Role of perioperative dynamic sentinel node biopsy for cN0 penile cancer management: experience from an Italian tertiary referral center.

Purpose: Inguinal lymphadenectomy (iLAD) reduces mortality in patients with cN0 penile cancer but yields high complication rates. Thus, its prophylactic role has been questioned and dynamic sentinel node biopsy (DSNB) was introduced to select men who should undergo the procedure. Our aim was to investigate the accuracy of a contemporary DSNB cohort.

Metabolomic Profiling in Individuals with a Failing Kidney Allograft.

Background: Alteration of certain metabolites may play a role in the pathophysiology of renal allograft disease.

Methods: To explore metabolomic abnormalities in individuals with a failing kidney allograft, we analyzed by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS; for ex vivo profiling of serum and urine) and two dimensional correlated spectroscopy (2D COSY; for in vivo study of the kidney graft) 40 subjects with varying degrees of chronic allograft dysfunction stratified by tertiles of glomerular filtration rate (GFR; T1, T2, T3). Ten healthy non-allograft individuals were chosen as controls.

Frontline Dasatinib Treatment in a "Real-Life" Cohort of Patients Older than 65 Years with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia.

Dasatinib (DAS) has been licensed for the frontline treatment in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). However, very few data are available regarding its efficacy and toxicity in elderly patients with CML outside clinical trials. To address this issue, we set out a "real-life" cohort of 65 chronic phase CML patients older than 65 years (median age 75.

[-2]proPSA versus ultrasensitive PSA fluctuations over time in the first year from radical prostatectomy, in an high-risk prostate cancer population: A first report.

Background: [-2]proPSA and its derivatives have an higher diagnostic accuracy than PSA in predicting prostate cancer (PCa). In alternative to PSA, ultrasensitive PSA (uPSA) and [-2]proPSA could be potentially useful in recurrent disease detection. This research focused on [-2]proPSA and uPSA fluctuations over time and their possible clinical and pathological determinants, in the first year after RP.

Addition of Rituximab to Involved-Field Radiation Therapy Prolongs Progression-free Survival in Stage I-II Follicular Lymphoma: Results of a Multicenter Study.

Purpose: Rituximab (Rit) therapy added to involved-field radiation therapy (RT) has been proposed as an effective treatment for stage I-II follicular lymphoma (FL). The results of an observational multicenter study on the Rit-RT combination in limited-stage FL are here reported.

Methods And Materials: Data have been collected from 2 consecutive cohorts of 94 patients with stage I-II FL treated between 1985 and 2011 at 5 Italian institutions.

Prostate health index and prostate cancer gene 3 score but not percent-free Prostate Specific Antigen have a predictive role in differentiating histological prostatitis from PCa and other nonneoplastic lesions (BPH and HG-PIN) at repeat biopsy.

Objective: To determine if prostate health index (PHI), prostate cancer antigen gene 3 (PCA3) score, and percentage of free prostate-specific antigen (%fPSA) may be used to differentiate asymptomatic acute and chronic prostatitis from prostate cancer (PCa), benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), and high-grade prostate intraepithelial neoplasia (HG-PIN) in patients with elevated PSA levels and negative findings on digital rectal examination at repeat biopsy (re-Bx).

Patients And Methods: In this prospective study, 252 patients were enrolled, undergoing PHI, PCA3 score, and %fPSA assessments before re-Bx. We used 3 multivariate logistic regression models to test the PHI, PCA3 score, and %fPSA as risk factors for prostatitis vs.

Pathological patterns of prostate biopsy in men with fluctuations of prostate cancer gene 3 score: a preliminary report.

Background: To evaluate pathological patterns of prostate biopsy in men with changes in risk class by prostate cancer gene 3 (PCA3) score and with elevated serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) or positive digital rectal examination (DRE), undergoing a repeat biopsy.

Patients And Methods: A total of 108 males of two Italian Institutions who had undergone at least two PCA3 score assessments with changed PCA3 risk class were selected. Comparison of PCA3 score in patients with negative re-biopsy [normal parenchyma, benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), chronic prostatitis, high-grade prostate intraepithelial neoplasia (HG-PIN), atypical small acinar prostate (ASAP)] or positive re-biopsy was performed.

Comparison of prostate cancer gene 3 score, prostate health index and percentage free prostate-specific antigen for differentiating histological inflammation from prostate cancer and other non-neoplastic alterations of the prostate at initial biopsy.

Aim: To determine if prostate cancer gene 3 (PCA3) score, Prostate Health Index (PHI), and percent free prostate-specific antigen (%fPSA) may be used to differentiate prostatitis from prostate cancer (PCa), benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and high-grade prostate intraepithelial neoplasia (HG-PIN) in patients with elevated PSA and negative digital rectal examination (DRE).

Patients And Methods: in the present prospective study, 274 patients, undergoing PCA3 score, PHI and %fPSA assessments before initial biopsy, were enrolled. Three multivariate logistic regression models were used to test PCA3 score, PHI and %fPSA as risk factors for prostatitis vs.

Current management of CML patients: Summary of the Italian Consensus Meeting held in Rome, April 11-12, 2013.

Treatment of Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia (CML) has evolved rapidly in the last 10 years. The objectives of this national consensus meeting were to describe the optimal procedures to perform at diagnosis, the most appropriate choice of tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) in the first line setting, the correct monitoring procedures, the appropriate timing for resistance identification allowing a rapid TKI switch, and the future possibility of treatment discontinuation. A panel of experts in CML management were invited for a 2-day workshop.

A case report of AA amyloidosis associated with familial periodic fever syndrome diagnosed after kidney transplantation: never say never.

Recurrent or "de novo" AA amyloidosis in the renal allograft is rarely described. We describe a case of severe nephrotic syndrome in a recipient of a kidney graft with a previous diagnosis of polycystic nephropathy caused by AA amyloidosis diagnosed only after the renal transplantation. The disease was possibly a tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated periodic syndrome (TRAPS).

A case of recurrent proliferative glomerulonephritis with monoclonal IgG deposits after kidney transplant treated with plasmapheresis.

Proliferative glomerulonephritis with monoclonal IgG deposits (PGNMID) is a rare and recently identified disease with a poor prognosis irrespective of the treatment. Recently, the possibility of recurrent or de novo PGNMID after kidney transplantation has been reported, which is associated with a better prognosis compared to PGNMID on native kidneys. Nevertheless, at present, due to the very few cases of recurrent PGNMID diagnosed, there is no proven effective treatment.

Lenalidomide in diffuse large B-cell lymphomas.

Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphomas (DLBCL) are the most frequent Non-Hodgkin Lymphomas (NHL). The addition of Rituximab to the standard chemotherapy CHOP improved the outcome in this patients, but so far 40% of patients experienced relapse or progressive disease. Lenalidomide, an immunomodulatory agent, had direct tumoricidal and antiangiogenetic actions on tumor cells and was able to modulate tumor-cell microenvironment, with the restoration of impaired T-cell activity and the formation of immuno-synapsis.

Interim 18-FDG-PET/CT failed to predict the outcome in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma patients treated at the diagnosis with rituximab-CHOP.

Role of interim-PET (I-PET) in diffuse large B-cell Lymphoma (DLBCL) is controversial. To determine predictive value of I-PET on progression-free survival (PFS), we enrolled 88 first-line DLBCL patients treated with 6-8 R-CHOP courses regardless of I-PET. PET/CT were performed at diagnosis, after 2 to 4 courses and at the end of therapy with central reviewing according to visual dichotomous criteria.