Vitamin E neuroprotection against cisplatin ototoxicity: Preliminary results from a randomized, placebo-controlled trial.

Background: Few studies have investigated the effect of vitamin E in reducing the cisplatin (CDDP)-induced ototoxicity. This study evaluated vitamin E supplementation as a protecting agent against CDDP-induced ototoxicity.

Methods: Patients who started CDDP were randomly assigned to receive vitamin E supplementation at 400 mg per day (group 1) or placebo (group 2).

Electrochemotherapy as First Line Cancer Treatment: Experiences from Veterinary Medicine in Developing Novel Protocols.

Tumor microenvironment is one of the major obstacles to the efficacy of chemotherapy in cancer patients. The abnormal blood flow within the tumor results in uneven drug distribution. Electrochemotherapy (ECT) is a tumor treatment that adopts the systemic or local delivery of anticancer drugs with the application of permeabilizing electric pulses having appropriate amplitude and waveforms.

Electrochemotherapy of a Multirecurrent Dermatofibrosarcoma Protuberans of the Orbital Margin: A Case Report.

Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (DFSP) is an uncommon cutaneous sarcoma with high recurrence rate. Radical surgery is the treatment of choice, although in cosmetically-sensitive areas such as the head and neck, this option is often not pursued. Electrochemotherapy (ECT) is a minimal invasive anti-tumor modality which is increasingly being used to treat skin metastases from different malignancies.

Clinical impact of sequential treatment with ALK-TKIs in patients with advanced ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer: Results of a multicenter analysis.

Objectives: Anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is sensitive to treatment with an ALK-tyrosine kinase inhibitor (-TKI). However, the benefit of sequential treatment with a 2nd ALK-TKI in patients who fail a 1st ALK-TKI has been poorly addressed.

Materials And Methods: We collected the data of 69 advanced ALK-positive NSCLCs who were treated with one or more ALK-TKIs at three Italian institutions.

An asbestos-exposed family with multiple cases of pleural malignant mesothelioma without inheritance of a predisposing BAP1 mutation.

We report a family with domestic exposure to asbestos and diagnosis of multiple cancers, including eight pleural malignant mesotheliomas and several other lung or pleural tumors. DNA sequence analysis revealed no evidence for an inherited mutation of BAP1. Sequence analysis of other potentially relevant genes, including TP53, CDKN2A, and BARD1, also revealed no mutation.

Targeting the MDM2/MDM4 interaction interface as a promising approach for p53 reactivation therapy.

Restoration of wild-type p53 tumor suppressor function has emerged as an attractive anticancer strategy. Therapeutics targeting the two p53-negative regulators, MDM2 and MDM4, have been developed, but most agents selectively target the ability of only one of these molecules to interact with p53, leaving the other free to operate. Therefore, we developed a method that targets the activity of MDM2 and MDM4 simultaneously based on recent studies indicating that formation of MDM2/MDM4 heterodimer complexes are required for efficient inactivation of p53 function.

Microenvironment acidity as a major determinant of tumor chemoresistance: Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) as a novel therapeutic approach.

Despite the major progresses in biomedical research and the development of novel therapeutics and treatment strategies, cancer is still among the dominant causes of death worldwide. One of the crucial challenges in the clinical management of cancer is primary (intrinsic) and secondary (acquired) resistance to both conventional and targeted chemotherapeutics. Multiple mechanisms have been identifiedthat underlie intrinsic and acquired chemoresistance: these include impaired drug uptake, increased drug efflux, deletion of receptors, altered drug metabolism, quantitative and qualitative alterations in drug targets, increased DNA damage repair and various mechanisms of anti-apoptosis.

Proton pump inhibitors for the treatment of cancer in companion animals.

The treatment of cancer presents a clinical challenge both in human and veterinary medicine. Chemotherapy protocols require the use of toxic drugs that are not always specific, do not selectively target cancerous cells thus resulting in many side effects. A recent therapeutic approach takes advantage of the altered acidity of the tumour microenvironment by using proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) to block the hydrogen transport out of the cell.

Prognostic relevance of LGALS3BP in human colorectal carcinoma.

Background: A previous report has shown that LGALS3BP (also known as 90K or Mac-2 BP) has antitumor activity in colorectal cancer (CRC) via suppression of Wnt signalling with a novel mechanism of ISGylation-dependent ubiquitination of β-catenin. The role of LGALS3BP in CRC prognosis was investigated.

Methods: The role of LGALS3BP on CRC progression and clinical prognosis was analyzed by combining cell cultures, in vitro assays, and immunohistochemistry.

Electroporation Enhances Bleomycin Efficacy in Cats with Periocular Carcinoma and Advanced Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head.

Background: Advanced carcinoma of the head represents a substantial health problem in cats for local control and overall survival.

Objectives: Evaluate the capability of electrochemotherapy (ECT) to improve bleomycin efficacy in cats with periocular carcinoma and advanced carcinoma of the head.

Animals: Twenty-one cats with periocular carcinoma (17 squamous cell carcinoma [SCC] and 4 anaplastic carcinoma) and 26 cats with advanced SCC of the head.

Salicylate activates AMPK and synergizes with metformin to reduce the survival of prostate and lung cancer cells ex vivo through inhibition of de novo lipogenesis.

Aspirin, the pro-drug of salicylate, is associated with reduced incidence of death from cancers of the colon, lung and prostate and is commonly prescribed in combination with metformin in individuals with type 2 diabetes. Salicylate activates the AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) by binding at the A-769662 drug binding site on the AMPK β1-subunit, a mechanism that is distinct from metformin which disrupts the adenylate charge of the cell. A hallmark of many cancers is high rates of fatty acid synthesis and AMPK inhibits this pathway through phosphorylation of acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC).

Evaluation of a LC-MS method for everolimus preclinical determination in brain by using [(13)C2D4]RAD001 internal standard.

Isotopic internal standards are increasingly frequent in LC-MS analysis to control biological matrix effects in the quantitation of immunosuppressant drugs, such as everolimus (RAD001). Here we present the evaluation of a LC-MS method, exploiting [(13)C2D4]RAD001 as internal standard, for preclinical determination of RAD001 in mice brain tissue. Samples were purified by solid phase extraction.

The L1 protein of human papilloma virus 16 expressed by a fowlpox virus recombinant can assemble into virus-like particles in mammalian cell lines but elicits a non-neutralising humoral response.

Human papilloma virus (HPV)-16 is the prevalent genotype associated with cervical tumours. Virus-like-particle (VLP)-based vaccines have proven to be effective in limiting new infections of high-risk HPVs, but their high cost has hampered their use, especially in the poor developing countries. Avipox-based recombinants are replication-restricted to avian species and represent efficient and safe vectors also for immunocompromised hosts, as they can elicit a complete immune response.

A laboratory test based on determination of cytokine profiles: a promising assay to identify exposition to contact allergens and predict the clinical outcome in occupational allergic contact dermatitis.

Background: Para-phenylenediamine (PPD) is the main allergen causing adverse reactions to hair dyes and a frequent cause of occupational-related skin sensitization among hairdressers and beauticians. The immunologic mechanism of the disease relies on the production of inflammatory cytokines by allergen-specific T cells, while regulatory T cells are thought to down-modulate the allergic response. This study was aimed at investigating the expression of effector or regulatory cytokines in exposed subjects in order to verify whether different cytokine profiles might predict distinct clinical outcomes.

Hemangiopericytoma of the spleen.

Introduction: Hemangiopericytoma of the spleen is a very rare tumor, with 14 isolated reports. It was our aim to review our experience and compare it with all the reported cases in an attempt to standardize surgical treatment, adjuvant treatment and follow-up protocol of this infrequent condition.

Methods: A consecutive case series study, with a mean follow-up of 44 months.

Direct to implant breast reconstruction by using SERI, preliminary report.

Background: There has been a "rising tide" in mastectomy utilization that can be attributed to more skin-sparing mastectomies (SSMs) performed concurrently with immediate breast reconstruction. We report our experience of the first use of SERI Surgical Scaffold (SERI; Allergan, Inc.) in 21 cases of direct to implant (DTI) breast reconstruction after SSM.

Effects of exogenous progesterone on fetal nuchal translucency: an observational prospective study.

Objective: Nuchal translucency (NT) seen ultrasonographically at 11-14 weeks' gestation is a sensitive marker for Down syndrome. Despite its important role for Down syndrome screening, its use is still considered controversial due to high false-positive rates. We speculated that progesterone could lead to abnormal blood flow patterns and, subsequently, to increased NT.

The calculation of the cardiac troponin T 99th percentile of the reference population is affected by age, gender, and population selection: a multicenter study in Italy.

Background: The aim of this study is to determine the 99th upper-reference limit (URL) for cardiac troponin T (cTnT) in Italian apparently healthy subjects.

Methods: The reference population was selected from 5 cities: Bolzano (n=290), Milano (CAMELIA-Study, n=287), Montignoso (MEHLP-Study, n=306), Pisa (n=182), and Reggio Calabria (MAREA-Study, n=535). Subjects having cardiac/systemic acute/chronic diseases were excluded.

Membranous Nectin-4 expression is a risk factor for distant relapse of T1-T2, N0 luminal-A early breast cancer.

Nectins are Ca(2+)-independent immunoglobulin-like cell adhesion molecules that compose a family of four members that regulate several cellular activities such as movement, proliferation, survival, differentiation, polarization, and the entry of viruses. Nectin-4 has recently emerged as a metastatis-associated protein in several cancers. Here, we have evaluated the association between the expression of Nectin-4 and the clinical outcome of patients with node-negative, T1/T2 breast cancers.

Epilepsy in the end of life phase of brain tumor patients: a systematic review.

Epileptic seizures are common in patients with primary or secondary malignant brain tumor. However, current knowledge on the occurrence of seizures during the end of life (EOL) phase of brain tumor patients is limited. Because symptom management with preservation of quality of life is of major importance for patients with a malignant brain tumor, particularly in the EOL, it is necessary to gain a deeper understanding of seizures and their management during this phase.

Role of BRAFV600E in the first preclinical model of multifocal infiltrating myopericytoma development and microenvironment.

Myopericytoma (MPC) is a rare tumor with perivascular proliferation of pluripotent stem-cell-like pericytes. Although indolent, MPC may be locally aggressive with recurrent disease. The pathogenesis and diagnostic biomarkers of MPC are poorly understood.