Hedgehog Inhibitors Beyond Clinical Complete Response in Basal Cell Carcinoma: Should I Stop or Should I Go?

Introduction: In advanced basal cell carcinoma (BCC), the issue of whether Hedgehog inhibitors (HHIs) should be stopped or not after clinical complete response (cCR) achievement remains an unmet clinical need.

Materials And Methods: We conducted a retrospective, multicenter study across 7 Italian dermato-oncology units including patients with BCC who continued vismodegib after cCR between 2012 and 2019. We assessed the relationship between the duration of vismodegib intake (days to cCR [DTCR], days to stop after cCR [DTS], total treatment days [TTD]), and disease-free survival (DFS).

EANM procedure guideline for the treatment of liver cancer and liver metastases with intra-arterial radioactive compounds.

Primary liver tumours (i.e. hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) or intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC)) are among the most frequent cancers worldwide.

Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) clinical practice guideline on immune checkpoint inhibitor-related adverse events.

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are the standard of care for the treatment of several cancers. While these immunotherapies have improved patient outcomes in many clinical settings, they bring accompanying risks of toxicity, specifically immune-related adverse events (irAEs). There is a need for clear, effective guidelines for the management of irAEs during ICI treatment, motivating the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) to convene an expert panel to develop a clinical practice guideline.

First-line imatinib vs second- and third-generation TKIs for chronic-phase CML: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Imatinib, the first tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) for the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), improves overall survival (OS), but the introduction of newer TKIs requires the definition of the optimal first-line TKI for newly diagnosed Philadelphia chromosome-positive (Ph+) chronic-phase (CP) CML. This systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) compares the efficacy and safety of imatinib vs second-generation (dasatinib, nilotinib, bosutinib) and third-generation TKIs (ponatinib) in adults with newly diagnosed Ph+ CP CML, concentrating on OS, progression-free survival (PFS), and hematological and nonhematological adverse events. The quality of the evidence was assessed using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) method.

Metastatic HPV-related oropharyngeal carcinoma cured with chemoradiotherapy: importance of pretherapy biomolecular assessment.

Pretherapy assessment has a crucial role in the management of advanced oropharyngeal carcinoma. The case report represents an example of how translational research may help to optimize the therapeutic options and to choose a well-shaped therapy adapted to the tumor and the patient.

Locally advanced paranasal sinus carcinoma: A study of 30 patients.

Sinonasal carcinomas (SNcs) are rare neoplasms arising from the paranasal sinuses and nasal cavity. Although these tumours have a heterogeneous histology, they are commonly diagnosed as a locally advanced disease and are associated with a poor prognosis. The present retrospective study reviewed 30 patients with locally advanced SNc, who were treated with surgery followed by chemoradiotherapy or radiotherapy, or radiotherapy with or without concomitant chemotherapy between January 1999 and January 2013 at the Department of Radiation Therapy, University of Naples 'Federico II' (Naples, Italy).

Prognostic Value of Bone Marrow Tracer Uptake Pattern in Baseline PET Scans in Hodgkin Lymphoma: Results from an International Collaborative Study.

PET/CT-ascertained bone marrow involvement (BMI) constitutes the single most important reason for upstaging by PET/CT in Hodgkin lymphoma (HL). However, BMI assessment in PET/CT can be challenging. This study analyzed the clinicopathologic correlations and prognostic meaning of different patterns of bone marrow (BM) F-FDG uptake in HL.

Optimal multidisciplinary treatment of oral cavity mucosal melanoma: outcome analysis in a case series.

Oral cavity mucosal melanomas (OCMM) represent only 3% of all malignant melanomas. Surgery is the mainstay of treatments and it is often followed by adjuvant radiotherapy. The role of adjuvant immunotherapy and/or chemotherapy is still debated and to date neither treatment is routinely used.

Poor concordance between CA-125 and RECIST at the time of disease progression in patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer: analysis of the AURELIA trial.

Background: Data on CA-125 as a predictor of disease progression (PD) in ovarian cancer come predominantly from patients with platinum-sensitive disease receiving chemotherapy alone. We assessed concordance between CA-125-defined and RECIST-defined PD using data from the Gynecologic Cancer InterGroup (GCIG) randomized phase III AURELIA trial in platinum-resistant ovarian cancer (PROC).

Patients And Methods: Patients with PROC were randomized to receive single-agent chemotherapy with or without bevacizumab.

Laparoscopic ablation therapies or hepatic resection in cirrhotic patients with small hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background: The Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer staging system recommends radiofrequency ablation as treatment of choice for patients with "small" (up to 2 cm in size) hepatocellular carcinoma.

Aims: Aim of the study was to assess whether laparoscopic ablation therapies or hepatic resection could be proposed as alternative option if percutaneous approach is not feasible.

Methods: Overall survival and tumour recurrence rate were compared in a retrospective cohort of 176 consecutive patients with small hepatocellular carcinoma on cirrhosis treated by laparoscopic ablation therapies or surgery.

The superparamagnetic iron oxide tracer: a valid alternative in sentinel node biopsy for breast cancer treatment.

The European Union has determined that from 2016 breast cancer patients should be treated in Specialist Breast Units that achieve the minimum standards for the mandatory quality indicators as defined by Eusoma. The existing standard for axillary lymph node staging in breast cancer is sentinel node biopsy (SNB), performed using Technetium-sulphur colloid ( Tc) alone or with blue dye. The major limits of radioisotope consist in the problems linked to radioactivity, in the shortage of tracer and nuclear medicine units.

Proteoglycan-based diversification of disease outcome in head and neck cancer patients identifies NG2/CSPG4 and syndecan-2 as unique relapse and overall survival predicting factors.

Background: Tumour relapse is recognized to be the prime fatal burden in patients affected by head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), but no discrete molecular trait has yet been identified to make reliable early predictions of tumour recurrence. Expression of cell surface proteoglycans (PGs) is frequently altered in carcinomas and several of them are gradually emerging as key prognostic factors.

Methods: A PG expression analysis at both mRNA and protein level, was pursued on primary lesions derived from 173 HNSCC patients from whom full clinical history and 2 years post-surgical follow-up was accessible.

Theranostic impact of NG2/CSPG4 proteoglycan in cancer.

NG2/CSPG4 is an unusual cell-membrane integral proteoglycan widely recognized to be a prognostic factor, a valuable tool for ex vivo and non-invasive molecular diagnostics and, by virtue of its tight association with malignancy, a tantalizing therapeutic target in several tumour types. Although the biology behind its involvement in cancer progression needs to be better understood, implementation of NG2/CSPG4 in the routine clinical practice is attainable and has the potential to contribute to an improved individualized management of cancer patients. In this context, its polymorphic nature seems to be particularly valuable in the effort to standardize informative diagnostic procedures and consolidate forcible immunotherapeutic treatment strategies.

NG2/CSPG4-collagen type VI interplays putatively involved in the microenvironmental control of tumour engraftment and local expansion.

In soft-tissue sarcoma patients, enhanced expression of NG2/CSPG4 proteoglycan in pre-surgical primary tumours predicts post-surgical metastasis formation and thereby stratifies patients into disease-free survivors and patients destined to succumb to the disease. Both primary and secondary sarcoma lesions also up-regulate collagen type VI, a putative extracellular matrix ligand of NG2, and this matrix alteration potentiates the prognostic impact of NG2. Enhanced constitutive levels of the proteoglycan in isolated sarcoma cells closely correlate with a superior engraftment capability and local growth in xenogenic settings.

Autonomous reparative unit (ARU): a new concept of repairing free flap donor site with local full-thickness skin graft.

Usually, harvesting free flap in the limbs creates an inevitable sequence of aesthetic damage not only in the donor site but also in the area of the graft used to repair the free flap donor site. Aim of the study was to standardize a simple method, defined Autonomous Reparative Unit, that allows closing of the donor site defects with a skin graft from the adjacent cutaneous area, avoiding further aesthetic damage in a third area. We define the "Autonomous Reparative Unit" as the rectangular shaped skin area of the flap and the dermoepidermic skin graft designed as an isoscele triangle with the base adjacent to the smaller side of the flap defect.

Baseline physical functioning status of metastatic colorectal cancer patients predicts the overall survival but not the activity of a front-line oxaliplatin-fluoropyrimidine doublet.

Background: No differences in response rate (RR), progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS) and quality of life (QoL) were seen in patients randomly treated with biweekly oxaliplatin plus either fluorouracil/folinic acid or capecitabine.

Methods: We investigated the independent effect of baseline clinical characteristics and physical functioning (PF) domain on RR, PFS, and OS in 310 patients who completed the EORTC QLQ-C30 questionnaire. Multivariate analyses stratified by treatment were performed.

Optimizing the management of metastatic colorectal cancer.

The prognosis of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer has significantly improved in the last few years, with the introduction into the clinical practice of new cytotoxic treatments, the availability of non-cross resistant agents after the front-line treatment failure, and the combination of targeted agents (i.e., the inhibitors of the epidermal growth factor and vascular endothelial growth factor pathways) with conventional drugs.

Gemcitabine combined with either pemetrexed or paclitaxel in the treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer: a randomized phase II SICOG trial.

Purpose: To estimate the safety, activity, and impact on quality of life of a combination of gemcitabine and pemetrexed in patients with locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in the context of a randomized two-stage phase II study.

Patients And Methods: Patients in stage IIIB or IV NSCLC were randomly allocated to receive either gemcitabine 1250 mg/m(2) on day 1, and pemetrexed (Alimta) 500 mg/m(2) followed by gemcitabine 1250 mg/m(2) on day 8 of a 3-weekly cycle (GA arm), or paclitaxel 120 mg/m(2) followed by gemcitabine 1000 mg/m(2), both given on days 1 and 8 of a 3-weekly cycle (PG arm).

Results: 105 (GA arm, 51; PG arm, 54) eligible patients (stage IV, 32 and 30, respectively) were enrolled into this study; thereafter, accrual was stopped due to first-stage analysis.

Pemetrexed in combination with oxaliplatin as a first-line therapy for advanced gastric cancer: a multi-institutional phase II study.

Background: This clinical trial assessed the efficacy of pemetrexed combined with oxaliplatin (PEMOX) in patients with advanced gastric cancer (AGC).

Patients And Methods: Forty-four patients with untreated AGC were enrolled to evaluate response rate (RR). Patients received pemetrexed (500 mg/m(2)) with vitamin supplementation and oxaliplatin (120 mg/m(2)) every 21 days for six cycles or until disease progression occurred.

Oxaliplatin, irinotecan, and fluorouracil/folinic acid in advanced gastric cancer: a multicenter phase II trial of the Southern Italy Cooperative Oncology Group.

Purpose: This phase II trial assessed the tolerability and efficacy of a triplet of oxaliplatin, irinotecan, and fluorouracil/folinic acid in advanced gastric cancer.

Methods: Patients with unresectable or metastatic gastric cancer, unexposed to palliative chemotherapy, received oxaliplatin 85 mg/m(2) iv and irinotecan 150 mg/m(2) iv on day 1, 6S-folinic acid 250 mg/m(2) iv and fluorouracil 750 mg/m(2) iv on day 2, every 2 weeks. Response rate (RR) was assessed after a minimum of four cycles, and treatment continued up to 12 cycles.

An EORTC phase I study of Bortezomib in combination with oxaliplatin, leucovorin and 5-fluorouracil in patients with advanced colorectal cancer.

The combination of oxaliplatin, leucovorin and 5-fluorouracil (FOLFOX-4) is still a reference regimen in advanced colorectal cancer; however, the addition of new biologic compounds represents a significant way forward. Bortezomib is an inhibitor of proteasome, a multicatalytic enzyme complex that degrades several intracellular proteins. In this study, escalating doses of Bortezomib were administered along with the standard FOLFOX-4 doses, in order to evaluate the dose-limiting toxicity (DLT), toxicity profile and activity of the combination.

Randomised trial comparing biweekly oxaliplatin plus oral capecitabine versus oxaliplatin plus i.v. bolus fluorouracil/leucovorin in metastatic colorectal cancer patients: results of the Southern Italy Cooperative Oncology study 0401.

Purpose: Oxaliplatin combined with either fluorouracil/leucovorin (OXAFAFU) or capecitabine (OXXEL) has a demonstrated activity in metastatic colorectal cancer patients. We aimed at comparing these two regimens in terms of response rate (RR), safety, progression-free survival (PFS), and quality of life (QoL) of patients.

Methods: A total of 322 patients with metastatic colorectal cancer were randomized to receive biweekly: oxaliplatin 100 mg/m(2) i.