Extensive cardiac infiltrative melanoma

We report an unusual clinical case of a 66‐year‐old patient with cardiac involvement from a metastatic melanoma, causing the formation of a large right atrial mass with extensive infiltration of the right atrial free wall, the interatrial septum, the coronary sinus, and up to the mitral annulus and posterior wall of the right ventricle, unamendable to complete surgical excision. As secondary cardiac tumors are not part of routine daily clinical practice, we thought that this clinical case would be a good educational opportunity for the practicing clinicians, both specialists and nonspecialists.     

Health-related quality of life in glomerular disease

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Plaque‐like myofibroblastic tumor,a rare entity of childhood: Possible pitfalls in differential diagnosis

Plaque‐like myofibroblastic tumor is a rare and benign pediatric soft tissue tumor. It presents as a slowly growing plaque reaching several centimeters in diameter, made up of multiple nodules. The clinical and histological features of this benign entity are similar to other fibrohistiocytic or myofibroblastic tumors occurring in childhood, so the diagnosis can be difficult. The correlation between clinical data, histopathology, and immunohistochemistry is necessary for the correct diagnosis.     

Impact of Incidental Findings During the Evaluation of Live Kidney Donors on Post-Transplant Outcomes: A Single Center Analysis

BackgroundA careful assessment of a living donor is mandatory to minimize the short- and long-term risk related to kidney donation. In this study, we evaluated the incidence of incidental findings (IFs) in a large population of potential living kidney donors. Moreover, this study evaluated if the presence of IFs could influence the chance of living kidney donation and post-transplant outcomes.MethodsOne hundred and sixty consecutive potential prospective living kidney transplant donors, who underwent a multidetector computed tomography angiography (MDCTA), were included in the study. An IF was defined as an incidentally discovered mass or lesion, detected by computed tomography angiography during the imaging evaluation of potential living donors. Clinical outcomes of living donors with IF were compared with those without IF.ResultsIn 10 patients (6.2%) an incidental finding was detected at MDCTA assessment. Among the 10 patients presenting with an IF, 7 patients (4.3%) were excluded from the living donation: 2 patients with an adrenal lesion, 3 patients with cancer, and 2 patients with a large (>8 cm) renal cyst. Graft and patient survival of kidney transplant recipients of donors with IFs were not significantly different to those receiving a kidney from living donors without IFs.ConclusionsIncidental findings are frequently discovered during living kidney donor evaluation. Whereas most are asymptomatic or not clinically relevant, predonation screening could identify potentially life-threatening diseases at an earlier stage, allowing for a more radical treatment.     

Perioperative Bevacizumab-based Triplet Chemotherapy in Patients With Potentially Resectable Colorectal Cancer Liver Metastases

Background

In colorectal cancer liver metastases (CRCLM), bevacizumab-based neoadjuvant strategies provide increased pathologic response. We aimed at assessing the activity of perioperative capecitabine, oxaliplatin, irinotecan, and bevacizumab (COI-B regimen) in patients with potentially resectable CRCLM, and investigating biomarkers for early prediction of pathologic response.

A multidisciplinary expert opinion on CINV and RINV,unmet needs and practical real-life approaches

ABSTRACT

Introduction: A range of combination chemotherapy regimens are currently used in clinical practice. However, international antiemetic guidelines often only categorize the emetogenic potential of single agents rather than the emetogenicity of combination chemotherapy regimens. To manage the nausea and vomiting induced by antineoplastic combinations, guidelines suggest antiemetics that are appropriate for the component drug with the highest emetogenic potential. Furthermore, antiemetic guidelines generally do not consider the influence of other factors, including individual patient characteristics, on the emetic effects of cancer treatments. Similarly, the emetogenic potential of radiotherapy is stratified only according to the site of radiation, while other factors contributing to emetic risk are overlooked.

Areas covered: An Expert Panel was convened to examine unresolved issues and summarize the current clinical research on managing nausea and vomiting associated with combination chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

Expert opinion: The panel identified the incidence of nausea and vomiting induced by multi-drug combination therapies currently used to treat cancer at different anatomic sites and by radiotherapy in the presence of other risk factors. Based on these data and the clinical experience of panel members, several suggestions are made for a practical approach to prevent or manage nausea and vomiting due to chemotherapy regimens and radiation therapy.     

Improving the international prognostic index score using peripheral blood counts: Results of a large multicenter study involving 520 patients with diffuse large B cell lymphoma

The main purpose of this study was to assess whether it is possible to improve the prognostic impact of international prognostic index (IPI) score by combining it with peripheral blood counts. Thus, we evaluated the prognostic power of lymphocyte, neutrophil, and monocyte counts in 520 patients with diffuse large B cell lymphoma treated with R-CHOP, confirming that these parameters have a strong impact on overall survival (OS). Using revised IPI (R-IPI), 44% of patients were categorized as poor-risk and showed an OS at 5 years of 46%. As OS at 5 years of the 520 patients is 67%, it is clearly evident that R-IPI tends to overestimate the proportion of patients with poor prognosis. Accordingly, in an attempt to improve the discriminating power of R-IPI, we evaluated and compared three different scores by combining the neutrophil lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and absolute monocyte count (AMC) with the following values: (a) IPI score 3-5, (b) age > 60 years and performance status, (c) age ≥ 65 years and LDH > ULN. The three indexes studied, had a similar 5 years OS for the high-risk group (46%-52%), but the proportion of patients classified as poor-risk were 37%, 20%, and 32%, respectively, which are lower than 44% identified with R-IPI. Thus, while R-IPI overestimates the number of high-risk patients, after applying our models, it is possible to recognize patients who are truly at high-risk. Of the three scores, the most accurate appears to be that based on NLR, AMC, LDH > ULN and age ≥ 65 years, which identifies 32% of high-risk patients, correlating well with what is seen in clinical practice.     

ANO10 mutational screening in recessive ataxia: genetic findings and refinement of the clinical phenotype

Journal of Neurology - Autosomal recessive cerebellar ataxia type 3 (ARCA3) is a rare inherited disorder caused by mutations in the ANO10 gene. The disease is characterized by slowly progressive...     

Impact of 2016 WHO diagnosis of early and overt primary myelofibrosis on presentation and outcome of 232 patients treated with ruxolitinib

The 2016 WHO criteria identified early primary myelofibrosis (PMF) as an individual entity with milder clinical features and better outcome compared with overt PMF. Here, we compared early and overt PMF patients treated with ruxolitinib in terms of baseline clinical/laboratory characteristics, response, and toxicity to treatment. We observed that early‐PMF patients achieve better and more stable spleen and symptoms responses, with significantly lower rates of hematological toxicities. No differences in overall and leukemia‐free survival were detected between the two cohorts. The application of 2016 WHO criteria is crucial to identify those PMF patients who deserve a stricter monitoring during treatment.