A retrospective analysis of alimentary tract duplications in pediatric patients: a 14-year single-center experience.

Purpose: Alimentary tract duplications (ATDs) are rare congenital lesions often associated with anomalies such as spinal, urinary and GI tract malformations. The purpose of this study was to report the experience of a single center with ATDs in children, focusing on the natural history, associated malformations, and their impact on patient management.

Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis over 14 years, collecting prenatal, clinical, surgical, and follow-up data.

Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy in Children: The Experience of Two Centers Focusing on Indications and Timing in the Era of "New Technologies".

Background: In children, laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) is now considered the gold standard for gallbladder (GB) removal. In the past, hemolytic disorders associated with cholelithiasis represented the most frequent conditions requiring LC; this is being overtaken by cholelithiasis and biliary conditions in overweight or ex-premature children.

Aims: This study aims to describe current indications and timing for LC in pediatric patients.

Non-syndromic bile duct paucity and non-IgE cow's milk allergy: a case report of challenging nutritional management and maltodextrin intolerance.

Background: Cholestasis in extremely premature infants (EPI) constitutes a nutritional challenge and maltodextrins have been reported as a possible strategy for hypoglycaemia. We aim to describe the nutritional management of an EPI with non-syndromic bile duct paucity (NSBDP) and feeding intolerance.

Case Presentation: A patient, born at 27 weeks of gestational age, presented cholestatic jaundice at 20 days of life with a clinical picture of NSBDP.

Gastrointestinal tuberculosis presenting as acute abdomen: a case report.

Intestinal tuberculosis (ITB) represents an important diagnostic challenge in the clinical setting, as it generally can occur as a chronic condition often mimicking other diseases such as Crohn's disease (CD), and can present itself with acute onset, which can be life-threatening. A 29-years-old Chinese woman coming to ER with abdominal pain, fever and weight loss. Computed tomography and colonoscopy images were not diagnostic.

Analysis of Sentinel Node Biopsy and Clinicopathologic Features as Prognostic Factors in Patients With Atypical Melanocytic Tumors.

Background: Atypical melanocytic tumors (AMTs) include a wide spectrum of melanocytic neoplasms that represent a challenge for clinicians due to the lack of a definitive diagnosis and the related uncertainty about their management. This study analyzed clinicopathologic features and sentinel node status as potential prognostic factors in patients with AMTs.

Patients And Methods: Clinicopathologic and follow-up data of 238 children, adolescents, and adults with histologically proved AMTs consecutively treated at 12 European centers from 2000 through 2010 were retrieved from prospectively maintained databases.

Liver histopathology in severe COVID 19 respiratory failure is suggestive of vascular alterations.

SARS2-CoV-2 breakout in Italy caused a huge number of severely ill patients with a serious increase in mortality. Although lungs seem to be the main target of the infection, very few information are available about liver involvement, possibly evocating a systemic disease. Post-mortem wedge liver biopsies from 48 patients died from severe pulmonary COVID-19 disease with respiratory failure were collected from two main hospitals in northern Italy.

Pulmonary post-mortem findings in a series of COVID-19 cases from northern Italy: a two-centre descriptive study.

Background: COVID-19 is characterised by respiratory symptoms, which deteriorate into respiratory failure in a substantial proportion of cases, requiring intensive care in up to a third of patients admitted to hospital. Analysis of the pathological features in the lung tissues of patients who have died with COVID-19 could help us to understand the disease pathogenesis and clinical outcomes.

Methods: We systematically analysed lung tissue samples from 38 patients who died from COVID-19 in two hospitals in northern Italy between Feb 29 and March 24, 2020.

Association of high TUBB3 with resistance to adjuvant docetaxel-based chemotherapy in gastric cancer: translational study of ITACA-S.

Background: No predictive markers for chemotherapy activity have been validated in gastric cancer (GC). The potential value of class III β-tubulin (TUBB3) as biomarker for prognosis and resistance to taxane-based therapy was reported.

Methods: We analyzed GC samples of patients enrolled in the Intergroup Trial of Adjuvant Chemotherapy in Adenocarcinoma of the Stomach (ITACA-S), a randomized adjuvant study comparing 5-fluorouracil/leucovorin (5-FU/LV) and docetaxel-based sequential chemotherapy.

Prognostic and Predictive Value of Microsatellite Instability, Inflammatory Reaction and PD-L1 in Gastric Cancer Patients Treated with Either Adjuvant 5-FU/LV or Sequential FOLFIRI Followed by Cisplatin and Docetaxel: A Translational Analysis from the ITACA-S Trial.

Background: Patients with high microsatellite instability (MSI) gastric cancer (GC) show improved survival and no benefit or harm from adjuvant and/or perioperative chemotherapy. The role of immune microenvironment in GC is largely unknown.

Materials And Methods: In the present study, 256 tumor tissue blocks were centrally collected from patients enrolled in ITACA-S, a randomized adjuvant trial of 5-FU/LV versus sequential FOLFIRI and cisplatin-docetaxel.

Sclerosing angiomatoid nodular transformation (SANT) of the spleen: A case report on CT and MRI.

Solid tumors of the spleen are rare, with an incidence of 0.007% in all operating and autopsy specimens. In terms of microscopic structure and function, the spleen consists of two parts: the white pulp, which plays an important role in the immune system and the red pulp, which filters the blood.

OATPB1/B3 and MRP3 expression in hepatocellular adenoma predicts Gd-EOB-DTPA uptake and correlates with risk of malignancy.

Background And Aims: Hepatobiliary phase (HBP) Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has increased the accuracy in differentiating focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH) and hepatocellular adenoma (HCA). However, the ability of this technique to distinguish HCA subtypes remains controversial. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of hepatocyte transporters (OATPB1/B3, MRP2, MRP3) in HCA subtypes, hence to understand their MRI signal intensity on HBP Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRI.

Biomarkers of Primary Resistance to Trastuzumab in HER2-Positive Metastatic Gastric Cancer Patients: the AMNESIA Case-Control Study.

Refining the selection of HER2-positive metastatic gastric cancer patient candidates for trastuzumab is a challenge of precision oncology. Preclinical studies have suggested several genomic mechanisms of primary resistance, leading to activation of tyrosine kinase receptors other than HER2 or downstream signaling pathways. We carried out this multicenter, prospective, case-control study to demonstrate the negative predictive impact of a panel of candidate genomic alterations (AMNESIA panel), including mutations and amplifications.

Preoperative Capecitabine, Oxaliplatin, and Irinotecan in Resectable Gastric or Gastroesophageal Junction Cancer: Pathological Response as Primary Endpoint and FDG-PET Predictions.

Objectives: This phase II trial was aimed at assessing the safety and activity of capecitabine, oxaliplatin, and irinotecan (COI regimen) as a preoperative treatment for resectable gastric cancer (GC) or gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) cancer.

Methods: Patients affected by T3-T4/N0-N+/M0 GC/GEJ cancer were treated with the COI regimen for 4 cycles followed by restaging and gastroresection with D2 lymphadenectomy. Four postoperative cycles were scheduled.

Osteopontin, E-cadherin, and β-catenin expression as prognostic biomarkers in patients with radically resected gastric cancer.

A correlation between osteopontin, E-cadherin, β-catenin, and cyclooxygenase 2 overexpression and poor clinicopathological features and prognosis has been previously suggested in gastric cancer. This translational study was aimed at assessing the correlation of these immunohistochemical biomarkers with outcome in patients with radically resected gastric cancer. We analyzed osteopontin, E-cadherin, β-catenin, and cyclooxygenase 2 expression by immunohistochemistry in 346 primary gastric tumor tissue samples from patients enrolled in the ITACA-S trial.

Transarterial chemoembolization for hepatocellular carcinoma with a new generation of beads: clinical-radiological outcomes and safety profile.

Purpose: To evaluate the short-term safety and efficacy of the new generation of 70-150 µm drug-eluting beads (M1 DEB) in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma undergoing transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) as a primary therapy or as a bridge to liver transplantation (LT).

Methods: Forty-five consecutive patients underwent TACE with M1 DEB loaded with doxorubicin (DEBDOX/M1). Clinical data were recorded at 12, 24, and 48 h, 7 and 30 days after treatment.

Role of BAX for outcome prediction in gastrointestinal malignancies.

Our group and numerous others have shown in both preclinical and clinical studies that the proapoptotic mediator BAX may be deregulated through gene mutation or loss of protein expression, affecting resistance to chemotherapy and radiotherapy in several cancer types. However, BAX is also involved in cancer development and may related to prognosis, independently of treatment outcome. The clinical impact of BAX status in gastrointestinal malignancies remains controversial, although it is generally hypothesized that high expression may be a positive prognostic factor and predict increased efficacy of chemotherapy (with particular regard to platinum derivatives).

A review on biomarkers for prediction of treatment outcome in gastric cancer.

Currently, therapeutic management of gastric cancer is mainly based on clinical data and histological features. Although several new treatment options have recently been introduced, inter-individual variability of response and drug resistance are still a challenge. Many promising markers have been identified to predict prognosis and likelihood of response to therapy, in order to tailor treatment regimens on the basis of patients' individual features.

Bax expression is predictive of favorable clinical outcome in chemonaive advanced gastric cancer patients treated with capecitabine, oxaliplatin, and irinotecan regimen.

Objective: Bax protein is a key mediator of apoptosis, and it might be related to chemosensitivity. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prognostic role of Bax in patients with advanced gastric cancer treated with triplet chemotherapy COI regimen (capecitabine, oxaliplatin, and irinotecan).

Methods: Pretreatment tissue blocks were available for 23 consecutive patients, selected for good performance status (ECOG ≤ 1) and consenting for treatment with first-line COI at a single institution.

Resection of hepatocellular cancer ≤2 cm: results from two Western centers.

Unlabelled: Asian series have shown a 5-year survival rate of ≈70% after resection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) ≤2 cm. Western outcomes with resection have not been as good. In addition, ablation of HCC ≤2 cm has been shown to achieve competitive results, leaving the role of resection in these patients unclear.

Hepatic colorectal cancer metastases showing a distinctive pattern of pathological response after metronomic capecitabine and bevacizumab.

A 48-year-old man was referred to our hospital with the diagnosis of colon cancer with multiple hepatic metastases. After right hemicolectomy, the rapid progression of liver disease was treated with metronomic capecitabine and bevacizumab according to a study protocol. A gradual regression of metastatic lesions was observed during a 9-month treatment period.