Laparoscopic versus open resection for hepatocellular carcinoma according to the procedure's complexity: real-world weighted data from a national register.

Background: Minimal access liver surgery (MALS) is considered superior to open liver resection (OLR) in reducing the perioperative risk in patients affected by hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). No national-level comparisons exist based on procedure complexity. This study aims to compare postoperative complications, postoperative ascites (POA), and major complications (MC) between MALS and OLR.

Stereotactic body radiotherapy and poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitors in ovarian cancer: a knowledge and attitudes survey in collaboration with the Italian Association of Radiation Oncology (AIRO) and Multicenter Italian Trials in Ovarian Cancer (MITO) groups.

The aim of this study was to present a nationwide survey on the specialist's attitudes towards stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) combined with poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitors (PARPi) with oligometastatic/oligoprogressive/oligorecurrent ovarian cancer (oMPR-OC) patients. The 19-item questionnaire was developed by specialists and distributed online. Replies were stratified by categories and analyzed using descriptive statistics.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on access to mental health services and socioeconomic inequalities in Italy.

Objective: Comprehensive evidence on the impact of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on the use of mental health services is scarce. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the access to mental health services in Italy and to assess the socioeconomic and citizenship inequalities for the same outcome.

Methods: A population-based longitudinal open cohort of residents aged ≥ 10 years was established in three large centers covering about 6 million beneficiaries (nearly 10% of the entire population) of the Italian National Health Service (NHS) from 01 January 2018 to 31 December 2021.

Survival Outcomes with Regorafenib and/or Trifluridine/Tipiracil Sequencing to Rechallenge with Third-Line Regimens in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer: A Multicenter Retrospective Real-World Subgroup Comparison from the ReTrITA Study.

Background: There is ongoing discussion around the optimal course of treatment for metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) following the second line. Trifluridine/tipiracil (T) and regorafenib (R) have been the mainstay of therapy in this situation, as they both increased overall survival (OS) in comparison to a placebo. Despite the paucity of evidence, therapy rechallenge is also recognized as an option for practical use.

Impact of dyslipidemia and lipid-lowering therapy with statins in patients with neuroendocrine tumors.

Dyslipidemia is a potential unfavorable prognostic factor in neuroendocrine tumors (NETs); conversely, statins proved to have antiproliferative effects in NET cell lines and could be a helpful therapeutic strategy for these patients. The main objective of this observational cohort retrospective study is to explore the associations between dyslipidemia and NET progression and evaluate the potential influence of statins in this context. 393 patients with histologically confirmed gastroenteropancreatic or bronchopulmonary NETs from six Italian centres didicated to NET diagnosis and therapy were included.

Tolerability and Preliminary Outcomes of Adjuvant T-DM1 in HER2-Positive Breast Cancer After Neoadjuvant Therapy: The ATD Study.

Background/objectives: HER2-positive breast cancer (HER2BC) is an aggressive subtype, with neoadjuvant treatment (NAT) aiming to achieve a pathological complete response (pCR) to improve long-term outcomes. Trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1) has been established as the standard of care in the adjuvant setting for HER2BC patients who do not obtain pCR. The ATD study aimed to evaluate the real-world tolerability of T-DM1 in this setting.

Neuroendocrine neoplasms of the breast: a multicenter retrospective Italian study.

Background: The aim of our retrospective study was to describe the immunophenotypic characteristics of neuroendocrine breast neoplasm (BNEN), a peculiar and rare type of breast carcinoma.

Methods: Pathological data from 51 patients affected by BNEN were retrospectively evaluated, and 44 patients were considered eligible (7 patients with incomplete data were excluded). The patients were followed in six different Italian hospitals between 2009 and 2019.

A Cross-Sectional Study of Variant Interpretation and Reporting of NGS Data Using Tertiary Analysis Software: Navify Mutation Profiler.

Introduction: Personalized medicine has revolutionized the clinical management of patients with solid tumors. However, the large volumes of molecular data derived from next-generation sequencing (NGS) and the lack of harmonized bioinformatics pipelines drastically impact the clinical management of patients with solid tumors. A possible solution to streamline the molecular interpretation and reporting of NGS data would be to adopt automated data analysis software.

Clinical impact of ceftazidime/avibactam on the treatment of suspected or proven infections in a large cohort of patients with haematological malignancies: a multicentre observational real-world study.

Objectives: To evaluate clinical impact of ceftazidime/avibactam on treating infections due to MDR Gram-negative bacteria in patients with haematological malignancies (HMs).

Methods: We conducted a retrospective, observational study at 17 Italian haematological wards that included patients with HMs receiving ceftazidime/avibactam for the treatment of suspected or proven infections. The primary endpoint was all-cause mortality 30 days after infection onset.

Different immunogens and prime-boost vaccination strategies affect the efficacy of recombinant candidate vaccines against pathogenic orthopoxviruses.

Although not as lethal as variola virus (VARV), the cause of smallpox, monkeypox virus (MPXV) represents a threat to public health, with important infection rates and mortality in several African countries and signs of spreading worldwide. MPXV may establish new reservoirs in non-endemic countries and can be considered a possible biological weapon. Human-to-human MPXV transmission is increasing with a growing susceptibility, coincident with the declining herd immunity against smallpox.

Effect of Telenursing on Supportive Care Needs in Patients with Melanoma and Lung Cancer on Targeted Therapies: A Randomised Controlled Trial Study Protocol.

: Telenursing comprises a set of tools and interventions enabling nurses to provide remote care. This study aims to assess the impact of telenursing interventions on the supportive care needs of patients with melanoma and lung cancer who are receiving targeted therapies. : This six-month monocentric, double-arm, randomised, controlled trial study protocol will assess the effect of telenursing on the supportive care needs (primary outcome) in 40 patients (20 in each group) after one month.

Follow-up of early breast cancer in a public health system: A 2024 AIGOM consensus project.

Breast cancer stands as the most frequently diagnosed cancer and the primary cause of cancer-related mortality among women worldwide, including Italy. With the increasing number of survivors, many are enrolled in regular follow-up programs. However, adherence to recommendations from scientific societies (such as ASCO, ESMO, AIOM) for breast cancer follow-up management varies in daily clinical practice across different cancer centers, potentially resulting in unequal management and escalating costs.

Inactivation of HIPK2 attenuates KRAS activity and prevents pancreatic tumorigenesis.

Background: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) features KRAS mutations in approximately 90% of human cases and excessive stromal response, termed desmoplastic reaction. Oncogenic KRAS drives pancreatic carcinogenesis by acting on both epithelial cells and tumor microenvironment (TME). We have previously shown that Homeodomain-Interacting Protein Kinase 2 (HIPK2) cooperates with KRAS in sustaining ERK1/2 phosphorylation in human colorectal cancers.

Clinical bioinformatics desiderata for molecular tumor boards.

Clinical Bioinformatics is a knowledge framework required to interpret data of medical interest via computational methods. This area became of dramatic importance in precision oncology, fueled by cancer genomic profiling: most definitions of Molecular Tumor Boards require the presence of bioinformaticians. However, all available literature remained rather vague on what are the specific needs in terms of digital tools and expertise to tackle and interpret genomics data to assign novel targeted or biomarker-driven targeted therapies to cancer patients.

ENGOT-en11/GOG-3053/KEYNOTE-B21: a randomised, double-blind, phase III study of pembrolizumab or placebo plus adjuvant chemotherapy with or without radiotherapy in patients with newly diagnosed, high-risk endometrial cancer.

Background: Pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy provides clinically meaningful benefit as first-line therapy for advanced (locoregional extension and residual disease after surgery)/metastatic/recurrent mismatch repair-proficient (pMMR) and mismatch repair-deficient (dMMR) endometrial cancer, with greater magnitude of benefit in the dMMR phenotype. We evaluated the addition of pembrolizumab to adjuvant chemotherapy (with/without radiation therapy) among patients with newly diagnosed, high-risk endometrial cancer without any residual macroscopic disease following curative-intent surgery.

Methods: We included patients with histologically confirmed high-risk [International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage I/II of non-endometrioid histology or endometrioid histology with p53/TP53 abnormality, or stage III/IVA of any histology] endometrial cancer following surgery with curative intent and no evidence of disease postoperatively, with no prior radiotherapy or systemic therapy.

Proficiency score as a predictor of early trifecta achievement during the learning curve of robot-assisted radical prostatectomy for high-risk prostate cancer: Results of a multicentric series.

Background: Recently, an innovative tool called "proficiency score" was introduced to assess the learning curve for robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP). However, the initial study only focused on patients with low-risk prostate cancer for whom pelvic lymph node dissection (PLND) was not required. To address this issue, we aimed to validate proficiency scores of a contemporary multicenter cohort of patients with high-risk prostate cancer treated with RARP plus extended PLND by trainee surgeons.

Targeting of mutant-p53 and MYC as a novel strategy to inhibit oncogenic SPAG5 activity in triple negative breast cancer.

Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive disease which currently has no effective therapeutic targets and prominent biomarkers. The Sperm Associated antigen 5 (SPAG5) is a mitotic spindle associated protein with oncogenic function in several human cancers. In TNBC, increased SPAG5 expression has been associated with tumor progression, chemoresistance, relapse, and poor clinical outcome.

DNA Damage Response in Early Breast Cancer: A Phase III Cohort in the Phobos Study.

We assessed the impact of DNA damage response and repair (DDR) biomarker expressions in 222 node-positive early breast cancer (BC) patients from a previous Phase III GOIM 9902 trial of adjuvant taxanes. At a median follow-up of 64 months, the original study showed no disease-free survival (DFS) or overall survival (OS) differences with the addition of docetaxel (D) to epirubicine-cyclophosphamide (EC). Immunohistochemistry was employed to assess the expression of DDR phosphoproteins (pATM, pATR, pCHK1, γH2AX, pRPA32, and pWEE1) in tumor tissue, and their association with clinical outcomes was evaluated through the Cox elastic net model.