Publications by authors named "Alessandro De Vita"

Breast cancer (BC) frequently metastasizes to bone, leading to poor patient prognosis. The infiltration of cancer cells in bone impairs its homeostasis, triggering a pathological interaction between tumors and resident cells. Preclinical models able to mimic the bone microenvironment are needed to advance translational findings on BC mechanisms and treatments.

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Systems with pronounced spin anisotropy are pivotal in advancing magnetization switching and spin-wave generation mechanisms that are fundamental to spintronic technologies. Quasi-van der Waals ferromagnets like CrTe represent seminal materials in this field, renowned for their delicate balance between frustrated layered geometries and magnetism. Despite extensive investigation, the nature of their magnetic ground state and the mechanism of spin reorientation under external fields and varying temperatures remain contested.

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Breast cancer stands as the primary cancer affecting women and the second most prevalent cause of cancer-related fatalities in developed nations. Consequently, there is a pressing demand for the advancement of therapeutic strategies that can be seamlessly integrated into clinical applications. We investigated the effectiveness of an encapsulation and decoration strategy employing biodegradable and biocompatible carriers together with 3D collagen-based culture models.

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Objectives: Gastrointestinal stromal tumors, the most prevalent mesenchymal tumors (80 %) of the gastrointestinal tract, comprise less than 1 % of all gastrointestinal neoplasms and about 5 % of all sarcomas. Despite their rarity, Gastrointestinal stromal tumors present diverse clinical manifestations, anatomic locations, histological subtypes, and prognostic outcomes.

Methods: This scoping review comprehensively explores the epidemiology, clinical characteristics, diagnostic and prognostic modalities, as well as new therapeutic options for Gastrointestinal stromal tumors.

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  • Adipose tissue, or body fat, is more than just a fat store; it helps in cancer growth by providing energy and sending signals that promote tumor activity.
  • Cancer can make fat cells act differently, which creates a cycle that helps the tumor grow even more.
  • The review also talks about how being obese can increase cancer risks and how different diets can influence cancer's development and new treatments for it.
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  • Musculoskeletal sarcomas are rare and diverse tumors, making research and treatment challenging for scientists and healthcare providers.
  • Traditional methods using mice for xenografting are increasingly limited due to ethical concerns and stricter regulations, leading researchers to seek alternative models like chick embryos and zebrafish.
  • These alternative models offer benefits such as cost-effectiveness, ease of tracking tumor growth, and the potential for enhanced drug screening, suggesting that a combination of different models could improve research and understanding of these tumors.
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  • Soft tissue sarcomas make up a rare group of tumors accounting for just 1% of solid cancers, with liposarcoma being a notable subtype.
  • The study focused on 21 patients with atypical lipomatous tumors/well differentiated liposarcoma (ALT/WDLPS) and dedifferentiated liposarcoma (DDLPS), investigating the role of biomarkers CDK4 and MDM2.
  • Results indicated that CDK4 was more highly expressed in DDLPS than in ALT/WDLPS, and the CDK4 inhibitor palbociclib showed promise in a sequential treatment approach when combined with lenvatinib, suggesting a new management strategy for DDLPS.
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  • Immunotherapy is becoming an important treatment for sarcomas, which are tumors that can act very differently from each other.
  • Researchers found that understanding the different immune environments in these tumors can help improve treatment results.
  • The presence of specific immune cells called Tumor Infiltrating Lymphocytes (TIL) may help patients live longer and respond better to immunotherapy, along with certain genes related to the immune system.
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van der Waals materials provide a versatile toolbox for the emergence of new quantum phenomena and fabrication of functional heterostructures. Among them, the trihalide VI stands out for its unique magnetic and structural landscape. Here we investigate the spin and orbital magnetic degrees of freedom in the layered ferromagnet VI by means of temperature-dependent X-ray absorption spectroscopy and X-ray magnetic circular and linear dichroism.

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  • Myxofibrosarcoma is a rare and aggressive soft tissue cancer that often recurs and becomes more severe with each recurrence, posing challenges for patients and clinicians alike.
  • The study introduces a new cell line (MF-R 3) derived from a myxofibrosarcoma patient, which was thoroughly characterized using various biological tests to evaluate its tumor properties.
  • The MF-R 3 cell line exhibits similar characteristics to the original tumor and has shown promising sensitivity to anthracycline drugs, making it a valuable model for further research and drug testing.
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Myxofibrosarcoma (MFS) is a malignant soft tissue sarcoma (STS) that originates in the body's connective tissues. It is characterized by the presence of myxoid (gel-like) and fibrous components and typically affects patients after the fifth decade of life. Considering the ongoing trend of increasing lifespans across many nations, MFS is likely to become the most common musculoskeletal sarcoma in the future.

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Background: Polymorphous adenocarcinoma (PAC) represents the second most widespread neoplasm of the minor salivary glands. These tumors rarely develop a histological progression from low-grade to high-grade malignancy, named "high-grade transformation" (HGT). Only nine cases are described in literature.

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Engineering surfaces and interfaces of materials promises great potential in the field of heterostructures and quantum matter designers, with the opportunity to drive new many-body phases that are absent in the bulk compounds. Here, we focus on the magnetic Weyl kagome system CoSnS and show how for the terminations of different samples the Weyl points connect differently, still preserving the bulk-boundary correspondence. Scanning tunneling microscopy has suggested such a scenario indirectly, and here, we probe the Fermiology of CoSnS directly, by linking it to its real space surface distribution.

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Myxofibrosarcoma (MFS) and undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma (UPS) can be considered as a spectrum of the same disease entity, representing one of the most common adult soft tissue sarcoma (STS) of the extremities. While MFS is rarely metastasizing, it shows an extremely high rate of multiple frequent local recurrences (50-60% of cases). On the other hand, UPS is an aggressive sarcoma prone to distant recurrence, which is correlated to a poor prognosis.

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Tumors are complex and heterogeneous diseases characterized by an intricate milieu and dynamically in connection with surrounding and distant tissues. In the last decades, great efforts have been made to develop novel preclinical models able to recapitulate the original features of tumors. However, the development of an functional and realistic tumor organ is still utopic and represents one of the major challenges to reproduce the architecture of the tumor ecosystem.

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A second-line standard of treatment has not yet been identified in patients with soft tissue sarcomas (STS), so identifying predictive markers could be a valuable tool. Recent studies have shown that the intratumoral and inflammatory systems significantly influence tumor aggressiveness. We aimed to investigate prognostic values of pre-therapy neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR), systemic inflammatory index (SII), progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS) of STS patients receiving second-line treatment.

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Introduction: Neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs) are a rare group of tumors exceptionally heterogeneous, with clinical presentation ranging from well differentiated more indolent tumors to poorly differentiated very aggressive forms. Both are often diagnosed after the metastatic spread and require appropriate medical treatment. A high priority need in the management of this disease is the identification of effective therapeutic strategies for advanced and metastatic patients.

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The cytotoxicity of ionic liquids (ILs) has been receiving attention in the context of the biological and environmental impact of their vast field of applications. It has been ascertained that the cell membrane is the main target of ILs when they interact with microorganisms, cells and bacteria; nevertheless, studies at the micro- and nano-scale aiming at better understanding of the fundamental mechanisms of toxicity of ILs are lacking. In this work, we used atomic force microscopy (AFM) to investigate the impact of room-temperature ILs on the mechanical, morphological and electrostatic properties of solid-supported DOPC phospholipid bilayers, taken as models of biomembranes.

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In the field of nanomedicine a multitude of nanovectors have been developed for cancer application. In this regard, a less exploited target is represented by connective tissue. Sarcoma lesions encompass a wide range of rare entities of mesenchymal origin affecting connective tissues.

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Article Synopsis
  • Two-dimensional van der Waals magnetic semiconductors, like transition-metal iodides CrI and VI, have unique properties that make them promising for new optical, electronic, and magnetic applications.
  • The study combines X-ray electron spectroscopies and theoretical computations to fully characterize the electronic ground states of CrI and VI, highlighting a wide bandgap in CrI and a Mott insulating phase in VI.
  • Findings suggest that the electronic properties are significantly affected by dimensionality, particularly through the discovery of a surface-only V oxidation state in VI, which impacts band engineering and the functionalities of these materials.
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Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) are rare neoplasms frequently characterized by an upregulation of the mammalian rapamycin targeting (mTOR) pathway resulting in uncontrolled cell proliferation. The mTOR pathway is also involved in skeletal muscle protein synthesis and in adipose tissue metabolism. Everolimus inhibits the mTOR pathway, resulting in blockade of cell growth and tumor progression.

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Introduction: Retinoblastoma (Rb) is the most common ocular paediatric malignancy and is caused by a mutation of the two alleles of the tumor suppressor gene, . The tumor microenvironment (TME) represents a complex system whose function is not yet well defined and where microvesicles, such as exosomes, play a key role in intercellular communication. Micro-RNAs (mRNAs) have emerged as important modifiers of biological mechanisms involved in cancer and been able to regulate tumor progression.

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Myxofibrosarcoma (MFS) is a common entity of adult soft tissue sarcomas (STS) characterized by a predilection of the extremities and a high local recurrence rate. Originally classified as a myxoid variant of malignant fibrous histiocytoma, this musculoskeletal tumor has been recognized since 2002 as a distinct histotype showing a spectrum of malignant fibroblastic lesions with myxoid stroma, pleomorphism and curvilinear vessels. Currently, the molecular pathogenesis of MFS is still poorly understood and its genomic profile exhibits a complex karyotype with a number of aberrations including amplifications, deletions and loss of function.

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Synopsis of recent research by authors named "Alessandro De Vita"

  • - Alessandro De Vita's recent research emphasizes the complex interactions between adipose tissue and tumor progression, particularly highlighting how obesity and dietary factors influence cancer cell behavior and adipocyte signaling, leading to a vicious cycle that promotes tumor growth.
  • - De Vita also focuses on the challenges associated with researching musculoskeletal sarcomas, investigating innovative methodologies like xenografting in various models to enhance translational research, allowing for better testing of novel therapeutic approaches.
  • - Additionally, his studies address the role of immune microenvironments in soft tissue sarcomas and the development of new patient-derived models, which aim to improve understanding of tumor biology and treatment efficacy in these rare cancers.