An urokinase receptor antagonist that inhibits cell migration by blocking the formyl peptide receptor.

Urokinase receptor (uPAR) plays a key role in physiological and pathological processes sustained by an altered cell migration. We have developed peptides carrying amino acid substitutions along the Ser(88)-Arg-Ser-Arg-Tyr(92) (SRSRY) uPAR chemotactic sequence. The peptide pyro glutamic acid (pGlu)-Arg-Glu-Arg-Tyr-NH2 (pERERY-NH(2)) shares the same binding site with SRSRY and competes with N-formyl-Met-Leu-Phe (fMLF) for binding to the G-protein-coupled N-formyl-peptide receptor (FPR).

Endocrine effects of adjuvant letrozole + triptorelin compared with tamoxifen + triptorelin in premenopausal patients with early breast cancer.

Purpose: To compare the endocrine effects of 6 months of adjuvant treatment with letrozole + triptorelin or tamoxifen + triptorelin in premenopausal patients with early breast cancer within an ongoing phase 3 trial (Hormonal Adjuvant Treatment Bone Effects study).

Patients And Methods: Prospectively collected hormonal data were available for 81 premenopausal women, of whom 30 were assigned to receive tamoxifen + triptorelin and 51 were assigned letrozole + triptorelin +/- zoledronate. Serum 17-beta-estradiol (E2), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), Delta4-androstenedione, testosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate, progesterone, adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), and cortisol were measured at baseline and after 6 months of treatment.

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy for melanoma metastatic to the gallbladder: is it an adequate surgical procedure? Report of a case and review of the literature.

Background: Only 2% to 4% of patients with melanoma will be diagnosed with gastrointestinal metastasis during the course of their disease. The most common sites of gastrointestinal metastases from melanoma include the small bowel (35%-67%), colon (9%-15%) and stomach (5%-7%), with a median survival of 6-10 months after surgery, and 18% survival at five years. Metastatic melanoma to the gallbladder is extremely rare and it is associated with a very poor prognosis.

Fine needle aspiration cytolog of perineal alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma: cytohistopathologic and immunocytochemical correlations.

Objective: To describe the cytopathologic findings in a case of alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma (ARMS) of the perineum in a 13-year-old girl and to compare the cytopathologic findings with the histopathologic and immunohistochemical features observed on the corresponding fragments obtained from core biopsy of the mass.

Study Design: The cytopathologic findings observed in fine needle aspiration biopsy of a vulvar mass were analyzed with reference to their predictive diagnostic value in pathologic evaluation of the lesion.

Results: Following a prospective cytopathologic diagnosis of ARMS, a cutting needle core biopsy was performed.

Resection in the popliteal fossa for metastatic melanoma.

Background: Traditionally metastatic melanoma of the distal leg and the foot metastasize to the lymph nodes of the groin. Sometimes the first site of nodal disease can be the popliteal fossa. This is an infrequent event, with rare reports in literature and when it occurs, radical popliteal node dissection must be performed.

R115777 (Zarnestra)/Zoledronic acid (Zometa) cooperation on inhibition of prostate cancer proliferation is paralleled by Erk/Akt inactivation and reduced Bcl-2 and bad phosphorylation.

Zoledronic acid (ZOL) has proved activity in bone metastases from prostate cancer through inhibition of mevalonate pathway and of prenylation of intracellular proteins. We have reported that ZOL synergizes with R115777 farnesyltransferase inhibitor (FTI, Zarnestra) in inducing apoptosis and growth inhibition on epidermoid cancer cells. Here, we have studied the effects of the combination of these agents in prostate adenocarcinoma models and, specifically, on androgen-independent (PC3 and DU145) and -dependent (LNCaP) prostate cancer cell lines.

Soluble interleukin-2 receptor in stage I-III melanoma.

The aim of the present study was to assess the prognostic value of soluble interleukin-2 receptor (sIL-2R) serum levels in stage I-III melanoma patients. The levels of sIL-2R were determined using an enzyme immunometric test kit in 329 patients affected by malignant melanoma (MM) from 1995 to 2004. Correlations between sIL-2R values, baseline patients and tumour features were studied by contingency tables and the chi-square test.

An assessment of hepatitis C virus infection among health-care workers of the National Cancer Institute of Naples, Southern Italy.

Background: As many people with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection are asymptomatic, HCV infection could spread easily among the health-care workers of the National Cancer Institute of Naples (especially before the identification of HCV and in the absence of good, effective preventative measures, e.g. sterile syringe use, gloves, protective glasses).

Biweekly docetaxel-irinotecan treatment with filgrastim support is highly active in antracycline-Paclitaxel-refractory breast cancer patients.

Purpose: To evaluate the feasibility and activity of combination treatment with docetaxel (DTX) and irinotecan (CPT-11), given together every other week, combined with filgrastim support, in anthracycline- and paclitaxel-pretreated breast cancer (BC) patients.

Patients And Methods: Advanced BC patients pretreated with anthracycline- and paclitaxel-based chemotherapy were eligible. DTX (80 mg/m2) and CPT-11 (100 mg/m2) were given biweekly with filgrastim support (300 microg/day on days 4-7).

Huge parathyroid carcinoma: clinical considerations and literature review.

Background: Parathyroid carcinoma is a rare malignancy, with an incidence of 0.5 to 4% of all cases of primary hyperparathyroidism. Surgery is the only curative treatment.

Trying to compose the puzzle with all the pieces: epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors in non-small cell lung cancer.

Small molecule epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) have shown promising activity in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Gefitinib has been the first of these drugs to be licensed for third-line treatment of advanced NSCLC patients. More recently, erlotinib has been shown to be more effective than placebo in increasing overall survival (OAS) and has been approved for NSCLC patients after failure of chemotherapy.

Targeted therapies and non-small cell lung cancer: methodological and conceptual challenge for clinical trials.

Purpose Of Review: Targeted therapies are emerging as important drugs in the treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Within the past months, there have been considerable contributions to this topic. The results of several important clinical trials have been published.

Primary non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of the mandible. Report of a case.

A case of a 45-year-old white man admitted for an osteomyelitis and subsequently diagnosed affected by an IE stage, diffuse high grade large B cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of the mandible is reported. The patient presented a swelling in the right mandibular region with paraesthesia of the ipsilateral lower lip without nodal involvement of the neck. After an incisional biopsy, which showed a diffuse high grade large B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, the patient was staged and treated with CEOP protocol for six courses and subsequently external beam radiation therapy with complete remission of the lesion.

Malignant melanoma developing in an area of hereditary palmoplantar keratoderma (Mal de Meleda).

Palmoplantar keratoderma (PPK) refers to a genetically heterogeneous group of skin diseases, which may be inherited in autosomal dominant or recessive fashion. We observed a case of a 74-year-old man with Mal de Meleda, who developed malignant melanoma inside the hyperkeratotic palmar skin of the right hand. Many authors have reported a higher incidence of cancer in cases affected by palmoplantar hyperkeratosis both for hereditary association and particularly for mechanical damage of the affected areas.

Ovarian cancer in the elderly.

In Europe 58% of all female cancers occur in women older than 65 years. The incidence of ovarian cancer rises steadily with advancing age during adulthood and peaks in the 7th-8th decades of life. Age-specific analysis reveals that the incidence of and mortality rate from ovarian cancer are continuously increasing in the elderly population.

Transcatheter arterial procedures in the treatment of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma: a review of literature.

Background: Transcatheter arterial procedures (TAP) have been widely used to treat hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in several clinical settings (advanced and neoadjuvant), and contraindications and secondary effects have been clearly described. However, it is still unclear which patients should be selected for treatment, which procedures should be used, in particular whether or not to add an antiblastic agent to embolization, and if the treatment provides a survival advantage in patient with HCC.

Methods: We conducted a Medline search for all study reports published until May 2002.

First-line chemotherapy with fluorouracil and folinic acid for advanced colorectal cancer in elderly patients: a phase II study.

Background: Colorectal cancer is one of the most common cancers in the elderly. Information on tolerability and efficacy of 5-Fluorouracil-based chemotherapy in such patients is limited. Primary aim of the study was to describe tolerability and activity of chemotherapy with the "de Gramont" schedule (FU bolus [400 mg/m ] + FU continuous infusion [600 mg/m ] + folinic acid [100 mg/m ] on days 1 and 2, every 2 weeks), in patients with advanced colorectal cancer aged 70 or older.

Engaged urokinase receptors enhance tumor breast cell migration and invasion by upregulating alpha(v)beta5 vitronectin receptor cell surface expression.

We have previously shown that urokinase receptor physically and functionally interacts with alpha(v)beta5 vitronectin receptor, leading to tumor breast cell migration and invasion. Here, the link between these 2 receptors was further investigated by analyzing the expression levels of urokinase receptor and alpha(v)beta5 integrin in 35 human breast carcinomas and 5 benign breast lesions. The occurrence of a positive correlation between urokinase receptor and alpha(v)beta5 protein levels in benign and malignant tumor specimens prompted us to investigate whether engaged urokinase receptors might modulate alpha(v)beta5 expression.

Radiofrequency ablation of primary and metastatic malignant liver tumors.

The use of RF energy to treat unresectable liver tumors is unlikely to be curative for most patients; however, a subset of patients treated with RFA may achieve long-term disease-free survival. Longer follow-up of hepatic tumor patients treated with RFA is needed to determine long-term disease-free and overall survival rates. New metastatic tumors develop in many of these patients at an incidence rate comparable with those treated with surgical resection or cryoablation.

Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia and neuroendocrine cancer.

We report a unique association between neuroendocrine cancer and chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) in a 63-year-old man. Neuroendocrine cancer was resistant to various conventional treatments and following locoregional progression we treated the patient with hypoxic pelvic perfusion of cisplatin 100 mg/m2 plus mitomycin 40 mg/m2, using the stopflow method, for three cycles: a dramatic and surprising reduction of > 75% in the evaluable lesions was observed. The cumulative effect of treatment produced a complete response from CLL.

Computed tomography and second-look surgery in ovarian cancer patients. Correlation, actual role and limitations of CT scan.

Computed tomography (CT scan) was performed on 58 clinically disease-free ovarian cancer patients. The scans were correlated with the results obtained at a subsequent second-look laparotomy. The sensitivity was 0.