Combination of Pembrolizumab with Electrochemotherapy in Cutaneous Metastases from Melanoma: A Comparative Retrospective Study from the InspECT and Slovenian Cancer Registry.

Electrochemotherapy (ECT) is an effective locoregional therapy for cutaneous melanoma metastases and has been safely combined with immune checkpoint inhibitors in preliminary experiences. Since ECT is known to induce immunogenic cell death, its combination with immune checkpoint inhibitors might be beneficial. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effectiveness of ECT on cutaneous melanoma metastases in combination with pembrolizumab.

Thirty Years of Neuroscientific Investigation of Placebo and Nocebo: The Interesting, the Good, and the Bad.

Over the past 30 years there has been a surge of research on the placebo effect using a neuroscientific approach. The interesting aspects of this effort are related to the identification of several biological mechanisms of both the placebo and nocebo effects, the latter of which is defined as a negative placebo effect. Some important translational implications have emerged both in the setting of clinical trials and in routine medical practice.

Treatment of Advanced Metastatic Melanoma.

The introduction in clinical practice of new drug compounds both targeted therapies anti-BRAF and checkpoint inhibitors have largely improved our potential to manage advanced metastatic melanoma patients. This has led to a significant improvement in terms of response rates and particularly in the overall survival (OS). The long-term results of trials with follow-up data of patients treated with targeted or immunotherapies reported median OS rates around 24 months, with 5-year survival rates around 35-40%.

Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Activity in Adverse Events Reporting After Placebo Administration.

Participants of clinical trials who receive a placebo treatment often report a variety of adverse events, sometimes called nocebo effects. The reason why these adverse events occur is not clear, and understanding the underlying mechanisms represents a challenge that is likely to improve the interpretation of clinical trials as well as medical practice. Here, we studied 192 healthy subjects who received placebo oxygen through a mask after reading (READ) or not reading (NO-READ) a list of possible adverse events of oxygen breathing: headache, chest pain, abdominal pain, and cough.

Different routes of administration in chronic migraine prevention lead to different placebo responses: a meta-analysis.

Placebo response is a powerful determinant of health outcomes in several disorders. Meta-analysis of clinical trials in pain conditions shows that it can contribute up to 75% of the overall treatment effect. Placebo response deriving from different routes of administration is poorly understood in primary headaches' pharmacological prevention.

Retrospective Study of Regorafenib Versus TAS-102 Efficacy and Safety in Chemorefractory Metastatic Colorectal Cancer (mCRC) Patients: A Multi-institution Real Life Clinical Data.

Introduction: There have been significant developments in colorectal cancer (CRC) research over the last few years, with the introduction of new agents that have been prolonged median overall survival of metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). These therapies have improved patient outcomes; however, despite significant progress in strategies for cancer treatment, their use is limited by development of resistant mechanism. Almost 30% of patients with refractory mCRC will remain good candidates for further treatment.

The subthalamic nucleus and the placebo effect in Parkinson's disease.

The study of the placebo effect, or response, is related to the investigation of the psychologic component of different therapeutic rituals. The high rate of placebo responses in Parkinson's disease clinical trials provided the impetus for investigating the underlying mechanisms. Ruling out spontaneous remission and regression to the mean through the appropriate experimental designs, genuine psychologic placebo effects have been identified, in which both patients' expectations of therapeutic benefit and learning processes are involved.

The 2021 WHO Classification of Tumors of the Central Nervous System: a summary.

The fifth edition of the WHO Classification of Tumors of the Central Nervous System (CNS), published in 2021, is the sixth version of the international standard for the classification of brain and spinal cord tumors. Building on the 2016 updated fourth edition and the work of the Consortium to Inform Molecular and Practical Approaches to CNS Tumor Taxonomy, the 2021 fifth edition introduces major changes that advance the role of molecular diagnostics in CNS tumor classification. At the same time, it remains wedded to other established approaches to tumor diagnosis such as histology and immunohistochemistry.

Failed Latarjet procedure: a systematic review of surgery revision options.

Background: Revision surgery after the Latarjet procedure is a rare and challenging surgical problem, and various bony or capsular procedures have been proposed. This systematic review examines clinical and radiographic outcomes of different procedures for treating persistent pain or recurrent instability after a Latarjet procedure.

Methods: A systematic review of the literature was performed using the Medline, Cochrane, EMBASE, Google Scholar and Ovid databases with the combined keywords "failed", "failure", "revision", "Latarjet", "shoulder stabilization" and "shoulder instability" to identify articles published in English that deal with failed Latarjet procedures.

Multicentric EORTC retrospective study shows efficacy of brentuximab vedotin in patients who have mycosis fungoides and Sézary syndrome with variable CD30 positivity.

Background: Brentuximab vedotin (BV) was approved as a therapy for mycosis fungoides (MF) based on the ALCANZA trial. Little real-world data, however, are available.

Objectives: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of BV in patients with MF/Sézary Syndrome (SS) with variable CD30 positivity in a real-world cohort and to explore potential predictors of response.

Treatment journey in rheumatoid arthritis with biosimilars: from better access to good disease control through cost savings and prevention of nocebo effects.

Early diagnosis and treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are of critical importance to halt the progression of the disease. Optimal use of advanced imaging techniques or biomarkers may facilitate early diagnosis of RA. Even though many disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) are available for RA treatment, biological DMARDs (bDMARDs) offer expanding therapeutic options and good outcomes in patients with RA who do not have a sufficient response to conventional synthetic DMARDs.

A new visual feedback-based system for the assessment of pinch force, endurance, accuracy and precision. A test-retest reliability study.

Introduction: Given that pinch is a precision grip involved in sustained submaximal activities, a Sustained Contraction (SC) task could be associated to Maximal Voluntary Contraction (MVC). To better evaluate the thumb-index system, the test-retest reliability of pinch MVC and SC, measured by a visual feedback-based pinch gauge was assessed.

Methods: 26 healthy participants performed MVC and SC in two separate sessions.

Cancer of unknown primary stem-like cells model multi-organ metastasis and unveil liability to MEK inhibition.

Cancers of unknown primary (CUPs), featuring metastatic dissemination in the absence of a primary tumor, are a biological enigma and a fatal disease. We propose that CUPs are a distinct, yet unrecognized, pathological entity originating from stem-like cells endowed with peculiar and shared properties. These cells can be isolated in vitro (agnospheres) and propagated in vivo by serial transplantation, displaying high tumorigenicity.

Manipulating placebo analgesia and nocebo hyperalgesia by changing brain excitability.

Harnessing placebo and nocebo effects has significant implications for research and medical practice. Placebo analgesia and nocebo hyperalgesia, the most well-studied placebo and nocebo effects, are thought to initiate from the dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and then trigger the brain's descending pain modulatory system and other pain regulation pathways. Combining repeated transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), an expectancy manipulation model, and functional MRI, we investigated the modulatory effects of anodal and cathodal tDCS at the right DLPFC on placebo analgesia and nocebo hyperalgesia using a randomized, double-blind and sham-controlled design.

Targeted Use of Placebo Effects Decreases Experimental Itch in Atopic Dermatitis Patients: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Evidence from pain research shows that the effectiveness of active pharmacological treatments can be enhanced by placebo effects. The "open drug administration" is superior to "hidden drug administration.​" In a randomized controlled trial, we aimed to show that the targeted use of placebo effects increases the efficacy of an antihistamine (dimetindene) infusion in participants with atopic dermatitis.

Design, Analysis, and Pitfalls of Clinical Trials Using Ex Situ Liver Machine Perfusion: The International Liver Transplantation Society Consensus Guidelines.

Background: Recent trials in liver machine perfusion (MP) have revealed unique challenges beyond those seen in most clinical studies. Correct trial design and interpretation of data are essential to avoid drawing conclusions that may compromise patient safety and increase costs.

Methods: The International Liver Transplantation Society, through the Special Interest Group "DCD, Preservation and Machine Perfusion," established a working group to write consensus statements and guidelines on how future clinical trials in liver perfusion should be designed, with particular focus on relevant clinical endpoints and how different techniques of liver perfusion should be compared.

Effectiveness of a dance-physiotherapy combined intervention in Parkinson's disease: a randomized controlled pilot trial.

Background: Physical therapies have been recommended as crucial components in Parkinson's disease (PD) rehabilitation.

Objective: The study aims to examine the effectiveness of a new dance-physiotherapy combined intervention, called DArT method, in mild PD patients.

Methods: A prospective, randomized, single-blind, controlled pilot trial was conducted on 38 mild PD patients under dopaminergic therapy.

Immune checkpoint inhibitor associated vitiligo and its impact on survival in patients with metastatic melanoma: an Italian Melanoma Intergroup study.

Background: Checkpoint inhibitors in melanoma can lead to self-immune side-effects such as vitiligo-like depigmentation (VLD). Beyond the reported association with favorable prognosis, there are limited data regarding VLD patient features and their echo on the therapeutic outcomes.

Methods: To assess the association between VLD and a series of clinical and biological features as well as therapeutic outcomes, we built an observational cohort study by recruiting patients who developed VLD during checkpoint inhibitors.

'External timing' of placebo analgesia in an experimental model of sustained pain.

Background: Research on placebo analgesia commonly focuses on the impact of information about direction (i.e., increase or decrease of pain) and magnitude of the expected analgesic effect, whereas temporal aspects of expectations have received little attention so far.

Relationship Between the Lateral Collateral Ligament of the Elbow and the Kocher Approach: A Cadaver Study.

Purpose: The lateral ulnar collateral ligament (LUCL) is considered to be the portion of the lateral collateral ligament playing the most important stabilizing role. Iatrogenic forms of posterolateral rotatory instability have been described. The Kocher approach is a popular approach to the lateral side of the elbow.

Outcomes of older adults aged 90 and over with cutaneous malignancies after electrochemotherapy with bleomycin: A matched cohort analysis from the InspECT registry.

Background: With extending life expectancy, more people are diagnosed with cutaneous malignancies at advanced ages and are offered nonsurgical treatment. We assessed outcomes of the oldest-old adults after electrochemotherapy (ECT).

Methods: The International Network for Sharing Practices of ECT (InspECT) registry was queried for adults aged ≥90 years (ys) with skin cancers/cutaneous metastases of any histotype who underwent bleomycin-ECT (2006-2019).

The Effect of Temporal Information on Placebo Analgesia and Nocebo Hyperalgesia.

Objective: Expectations are known to be key determinants of placebo and nocebo phenomena. In previous studies, verbal suggestions to induce such expectations have mainly focused on the direction and magnitude of the effect, whereas little is known about the influence of temporal information.

Methods: Using an experimental placebo and nocebo design, we investigated whether information about the expected onset of a treatment effect modulates the start and time course of analgesic and hyperalgesic responses.

Imaging alternatives to colonoscopy: CT colonography and colon capsule. European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE) and European Society of Gastrointestinal and Abdominal Radiology (ESGAR) Guideline - Update 2020.

1: ESGE/ESGAR recommend computed tomographic colonography (CTC) as the radiological examination of choice for the diagnosis of colorectal neoplasia.Strong recommendation, high quality evidence.ESGE/ESGAR do not recommend barium enema in this setting.