Kinetics of response to iloprost evaluated by laser speckle contrast analysis in systemic sclerosis.

OBJECTIVE: Iloprost (ILO) is recommended for the treatment of systemic sclerosis (SSc) microangiopathy, but there is no common consensus on its optimal dosage. The aim of this study is to evaluate the kinetics of response to ILO administered in a daily outpatient scheme in SSc subjects using laser speckle contrast analysis (LASCA). METHOD: Adult SSc patients in stable therapy with ILO administered for 6 h for 2 consecutive days every 4 weeks were enrolled. Peripheral finger perfusion was assessed by LASCA. Each patient underwent five LASCA evaluations: before and after each day of ILO (D1pre, D1post, D2pre, and D2post) and after 4 weeks (D30). RESULTS: Twenty-seven SSc patients (77.8% female, mean age 61.5 years) were enrolled. LASCA showed an increase in perfusion at the end of each ILO course, but on the second day (both D1pre vs D2pre and D2pre vs D2post) the increase was no longer significant in half of the fingers. Moreover, compared to D1post, at the beginning of the second ILO day most of the fingers had already shown a significant reduction in perfusion. After 1 month, there were no statistically significant differences between the perfusion values of D1pre and D30. CONCLUSION: This LASCA study highlights the transience of the vasoactive effect of ILO, with a perfusion benefit that is completely lost after 1 month. The brevity of the perfusion effect of ILO and the use of LASCA are elements to consider in the design of future SSc trials to determine the optimal ILO dosage.

Prostanoids in scleroderma microangiopathy: clinical and pharmacoeconomic comparison between two intravenous regimens.

Objectives: Intravenous iloprost (ILO) has widely demonstrated its effectiveness and safety in systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients. Unfortunately, there is no clear consent about dosage, duration, frequency, and infusion modality. The aim of this study was to compare two different therapeutic schemes in the same cohort of consecutive SSc subjects, evaluating differences in terms of effectiveness [digital ulcer (DU) outcome], safety, and direct healthcare costs.Method: This was a retrospective observational study of 47 patients classified with SSc treated with intravenous ILO for severe Raynaud's phenomenon and/or DUs. Two regimens were compared: a continuous inpatient scheme and a daily outpatient scheme. Demographics and clinical data, concomitant therapies, adverse events, and data on resource use and costs were collected.Results: The number of DUs rose slightly with the switch from the continuous to the daily scheme (0.61 ± 1.2 vs 1.1 ± 1.7). Moreover, in the daily scheme there was an increase in the number of therapeutic cycles (2.4 ± 0.7 vs 4.71 ± 1.4, p < 0.001) and an increase in patients treated with other vasoactive drugs. There was a reduction in ILO tolerability and more than half of the patients suspended the treatment. Five patients required hospitalization for severe and refractory DUs in the daily scheme. Moreover, the costs of the two treatments were comparable [median 7174 (range 2748-18 524) EUR vs 6284 (3232-22 706) EUR, p = 0.712].Conclusion: Treatment with a daily scheme of ILO is characterized by worse tolerability and a higher dropout rate compared to a low-flow regimen, with similar costs. We suggest that a low-flow continuous therapeutic scheme is preferable in SSc patients.

Adaptation and psychometric properties of the Italian version of the Non-Motor Symptoms Questionnaire for Parkinson's disease.

Although non-motor symptoms (NMS) of Parkinson's disease (PD) are very common also in early stages of the disease, they are still under-recognized. Screening tools for non-motor symptoms, such as non-motor symptoms questionnaire (NMSQuest), help clinicians to recognize NMS and to evaluate if patients could require further assessment or specific treatments. To validate an adapted Italian version of NMSQuest and study its psychometric properties, Italian PD patients self-completed Italian NMSQuest, and then underwent a standard clinical evaluation including motor assessment (by Hoehn and Yahr staging, unified Parkinson's disease rating scale part III) and non-motor assessment (by Montreal cognitive assessment, Beck depression inventory, neuropsychiatric inventory, Epworth sleepiness scale, scale for outcomes in Parkinson's disease-Autonomic and movement disorder society-sponsored revision of the unified Parkinson's disease rating scale part I). Somatic comorbidities were quantified using the modified cumulative illness rating scale (CIRS). Seventy-one subjects were assessed (mean age years 69.8 ± 9.6 SD; 31% women; mean duration of disease 6.3 ± 4.6 years; H&Y median 2). Italian NMSQuest showed adequate satisfactory clinimetrics in terms of data quality, precision, acceptability, internal consistency and reliability. A significant correlation was found between NMSQuest and most of non-motor assessment scales, while no significant correlation appeared with motor severity as well as with age of patients, disease duration, levodopa equivalent daily dose, L-DOPA/dopamine agonists assumption and CIRS total score. The Italian version of the NMSQuest resulted as a reliable instrument for screening NMS in Italian PD patients.

A simplified algorithm may lead to overestimate dementia in PD. A clinical and epidemiological study using criteria for PD-D proposed by the Movement Disorders Task Force.

Making an accurate diagnosis of dementia in Parkinson's disease (PD-D) patients is a challenge that neurologists will have to face in the coming years. In 2007, a Task force of the Movement Disorders Society proposed operational diagnostic criteria for the diagnosis of PD-D, consisting of step I and step II. We assessed the validity of step I with reference to the diagnosis made after a formal neuropsychological evaluation and by applying the current gold standard for the diagnosis of PD-D (DSM IV). Step I had a sensitivity of 78% and a specificity of 95.5%. Step I displayed a positive predictive value of 70%, a negative predictive value of 97%, and an accuracy of 93.4%. The clinimetric properties observed in our setting suggest that step I may be considered as a good screening tool (negative predictive value of 97%); however, using step I alone to make a diagnosis of PD-D may lead to an overestimation of dementia in PD, particularly in patients with considerable dysexecutive deficits (positive predictive value of 70%). In conclusion, formal neuropsychology and longitudinal follow-up are still required for the diagnosis and categorization of dementia in PD.

Molecular imaging and targeted therapies in oncology: new concepts in treatment response assessment. a collection of cases.

The widespread use of several new non-cytotoxic drugs and the significant improvements in functional imaging highlights a number of difficulties in monitoring, interpreting and predicting treatment response in clinical practice. Certain guidelines for disease assessment after therapy are already available: the traditional Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumours guidelines based on tumour size variations using conventional imaging technologies, the recent combined method developed by Choi and colleagues in gastrointestinal stromal tumour treated with tyrosine kinase inhibitors based on tumour density variations using computed tomography (CT), and the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer criteria based on tumour glucose metabolism variations using fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET). At the moment combined PET/CT response criteria are still not available. A number of new PET compounds other than FDG are also currently being developed to visualize specific cellular and molecular tumour pathways but their role in assessment and prediction of cancer treatment response has not yet been thoroughly investigated in a large series. However, in clinical practice many oncologists treat cancer patients with targeted therapies or chemotherapy and evaluate the response using conventional or functional imaging without appropriate and standardized guidelines. The aim of this study was to present a selection of clinical cases that illustrate the usefulness of new PET tracers and efficacy evaluation of new drugs. In the era of molecular imaging and molecular therapies, these cases highlight the urgency to develop new criteria for treatment assessment and the exigency of correctly interpreting the biological information obtained from new technologies, and introduce new concepts that require further investigation in clinical trials.

Surgical debulking of gastrointestinal stromal tumors: is it a reasonable option after second-line treatment with sunitinib?

INTRODUCTION: After imatinib treatment, the surgical management of patients affected by gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) has been widely reported and often considered by many oncologists in clinical practice. Surgical results are correlated with disease responsiveness to tyrosine kinase inhibitors and with complete extirpation of all tumor sites. By now, no report specifically addressing surgical management after second-line treatment with sunitinib is still available. Most patients have an unresectable disease and do not have any other therapeutical options except for clinical trials. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We report two clinical cases of patients with metastatic GISTs, who underwent surgery after sunitinib, and discuss the surgical management option in this clinical setting. RESULTS: Both our patients had a long, durable stable disease on sunitinib, but one developed a chronic mild bleeding that does not call for emergency surgical interventions and the other one developed chronic heart toxicity. They were proposed to undergo surgery despite the unresectable diseases and received an incomplete resection because of residual metastatic lesions. They restarted sunitinib after surgery. CONCLUSIONS: The poor prognosis after sunitinib treatment and the absence of alternative validated options open the debate on the assessment of surgical management of metastatic GISTs in this setting. The role of surgery should be investigated in clinical trials; however, the enrollment may be difficult. In clinical practice and after a multidisciplinary case patient discussion, surgery could represent a reasonable choice for advanced GISTs especially if the risk of surgery-related death is not too high.

Molecular imaging suggests efficacy of bevacizumab beyond the second line in advanced colorectal cancer patients.

We report the clinical history of a female affected by advanced colorectal cancer (CRC). The patient was treated with five subsequent therapeutic schedules (FOLFIRI, FOLFOXIRI, FOLFIRI, FOLFOX4, FOLFOX4 plus cetuximab) because of the progression of the disease. The sixth treatment was bevacizumab in combination with 5-fluorouracil and irinotecan (FOLFIRI). The CT scan and the FDG-PET/CT performed 3 months after the beginning of the treatment showed that some, even if not all, lesions had a reduction of both size and metabolic activity. After the second revaluation the disease progressed. This short report suggests that the response of CRC to antiangiogenetic therapy may also occur after several unsuccessful antineoplastic treatments. Different biological features may explain the nonhomogeneous objective response of the metastatic lesions. Molecular imaging techniques seem to be mandatory in the era of tailored therapy since it is useful to have an in vivo 'biological picture' of the neoplastic disease.

Intercepting Parkinson disease non-motor subtypes: A proof-of-principle study in a clinical setting.

The construct of non-motor symptoms (NMS) subtyping in Parkinson Disease (PD) is emerging as a line of research in the light of its potential role in etiopathological interpretation of PD heterogeneity. Different approaches of NMS subtyping have been proposed: an anatomical model suggests that NMS aggregate according to the underpinning pathology; other researchers find aggregation of NMS according to the motor phenotype; the contribution of genetic background to NMS has also been assessed, primarily focusing on cognitive impairment. We have analyzed NMS burden assessed through an extensive clinical and neuropsychological battery in 137 consecutive non-demented PD patients genotyped for MAPT haplotypes (H1/H1 vs H2 carriers) in order to explore the applicability of the "anatomo-clinical", "motor" or "genetic" models for subtyping PD in a clinical setting; a subsequent independent analysis was conducted to verify a possible cluster distribution of NMS. No clear-cut NMS profiles according to the previously described models emerged: in our population, the autonomic dysfunctions and depressive symptoms represent the leading determinant of NMS clusters, which seems to better fit with the hypothesis of a "neurotransmitter-based" model. Selective preferential neurotransmitter network dysfunctions may account for heterogeneity of PD and could address translational research.

Validation of the Italian version of the Non Motor Symptoms Scale for Parkinson's disease.

OBJECTIVE: To validate the adapted Italian version of the Non-Motor Symptoms Scale (NMSS), a tool to assess non-motor symptoms (NMS) in Parkinson's disease (PD). METHODS: A cross cultural adaptation of the NMSS into Italian and a psychometric analysis of the translated version of the NMSS was carried out in patients with PD from two university centres-affiliated hospitals. The quality of data and the acceptability, reliability and construct validity of NMSS were analyzed. The following standard scales were also applied: Hoehn and Yahr staging, Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) part III, Montreal Cognitive Assessment, Beck Depression Inventory, Neuropsychiatric Inventory, Epworth Sleepiness Scale, Autonomic Scale for Outcomes in Parkinson's disease-Motor, Movement Disorder Society-Sponsored Revision of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale part I and Modified Cumulative Illness Rating Scale (CIRS). Levodopa equivalent daily dose (LEDD) was calculated. RESULTS: Seventy-one patients with PD were assessed (mean age years 69.8 ± 9.6 SD; 31% women; mean length of disease 6.3 ± 4.6 years; H&Y median: 2). Mean NMSS was 39.76 (SD 31.9; skewness 0.95). The total score of NMSS was free of floor or ceiling effects and showed a satisfactory reliability (Cronbach's alpha coefficient on total score was 0.72 [range for domains: 0.64-0.73], SEM value was 3.88 [½ SD = 31.90]). Significant positive correlations were found among total NMSS and other NMS standard tests, but no significant correlation appeared with UPDRS part III, CIRS and LEDD. CONCLUSIONS: The Italian NMSS is a comprehensive and helpful measure for NMS in native Italian patients with PD.

[Treatment of colorectal cancer liver metastases]. / Il trattamento delle metastasi epatiche da cancro del colon-retto.

Liver is the main target for colorectal cancer (CRC) metastases. About 50% of all patients affected by CRC develop liver metastases. Surgery remains the only potentially curative strategy and indications to surgery and resectability criteria are now less restrictive than before so that a more aggressive attitude in the treatment of metastatic lesions is the rule. However surgery is not possible in the majority of patients. For non resectable patients two options are available: local treatment strategies (Radio-frequency ablation and Cryosurgery: alone or in combination with surgery) and chemotherapy. High rates of objective response achieved with Fluoropyrimidines, Oxaliplatin (OHP) and Irinotecan (CPT-11) based chemo-therapy, enable initially unresectable patients to undergo surgery, with a 5-year survival rate comparable to that observed for primary resectable patients. Therefore chemotherapy has not only a palliative aim, but becomes a fundamental moment of a combined medical and surgical treatment with curative purpose. After surgery two-thirds of patients will relapse in first two years, so that adjuvant therapy has been investigated to reduce recurrence rates, mainly testing hepatic arterial infusion (HAI) schedules. So far no randomized trials have been published on the role of systemic intravenous adjuvant chemo-therapy. Finally we report the results of our monoinstitutional experience, suggesting a possible role of systemic adjuvant chemotherapy in reducing recurrence rates after liver metastasectomy. Probably in the next years new targeted drugs and locoregional therapies will contribute to further improve prognosis of such patients, in a neoadjuvant, adjuvant and palliative setting.

Cancer surveillance in ulcerative colitis: critical analysis of long-term prospective programme.

BACKGROUND: Patients with longstanding ulcerative colitis are at increased risk of colorectal cancer. In the literature, no agreement has yet been reached regarding prevention strategies. Our report sums up a prospective study started in 1980. METHODS: A total of 65 patients affected by ulcerative colitis for more than seven years were admitted to a regular colonoscopic and biopsy follow-up programme. RESULTS: Some 20 years after the beginning of the study, 23 (35.3%) patients have been operated upon, 2 patients have died but not from cancer 29 (44.66%) patients have abandoned the programme. Only 11 (16.9%) patients have remained under colonoscopic surveillance. CONCLUSION: These results cast some doubts on the significance of such a programme and on its long-term feasibility.

[Cutaneous mastocytosis. Description of 4 cases]. / Mastocitosi cutanea - descrizione di 4 casi clinici.

The Authors describe four cases of cutaneous mastocytosis observed during paediatric age. They notice that the disease presents itself with a clinical polymorphous situation which sometimes exceeds the limits of the cutaneous gambit, until the illness reveals itself a systemic serious disease. Besides they point out uncertain etiopathogenesis, the utility of a correct diagnostic approach and the utility of a therapy which is continually in evolution.

Advances in preclinical therapeutics development using small animal imaging and molecular analyses: the gastrointestinal stromal tumors model.

The large use of target therapies in the treatment of gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) highlighted the urgency to integrate new molecular imaging technologies, to develop new criteria for tumor response evaluation and to reach a more comprehensive definition of the molecular target. These aspects, which come from clinical experiences, are not considered enough in preclinical research studies which aim to evaluate the efficacy of new drugs or new combination of drugs with molecular target. We developed a xenograft animal model GIST882 using nude mice. We evaluated both the molecular and functional characterization of the tumor mass. The mutational analysis of KIT receptor of the GIST882 cell lines and tumor mass showed a mutation on exon 13 that was still present after in vivo cell growth. The glucose metabolism and cell proliferation was evaluated with a small animal PET using both FDG and FLT. The experimental development of new therapies for GIST treatment requires sophisticated animal models in order to represent the tumor molecular heterogeneity already demonstrated in the clinical setting and in order to evaluate the efficacy of the treatment also considering the inhibition of tumor metabolism, and not only considering the change in size of tumors. This approach of cancer research on GISTs is crucial and essential for innovative perspectives that could cross over to other types of cancer.

Complete remission of primary colon cancer in a metastatic patient treated with CPT-11 plus capecitabine.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The best treatment of patients with advanced colorectal cancer at the time of diagnosis is not well known, and the medical treatment is still unsatisfactory. CASE PRESENTATION: We report the case of a patient showing a complete remission of primary tumor after medical therapy with CPT-11 plus capecitabine. DISCUSSION: The best management of advanced disease at first presentation is discussed.