Assessing psychological needs in female cancer patients: a tailored model.

Background And Aim Of The Work: Psychosocial needs in cancer patients seem to be underestimated and undertreated. The present research was designed to explore under-considered psychosocial needs (e.g.

A European, Observational, Prospective Trial of Trabectedin Plus Pegylated Liposomal Doxorubicin in Patients with Platinum-Sensitive Ovarian Cancer.

Purpose: The noninterventional, prospective NIMES-ROC phase IV study (NCT02825420) evaluated trabectedin plus pegylated liposomal doxorubicin (PLD) in real-life clinical practice.

Patients And Methods: Eligible participants included adults with platinum-sensitive recurrent ovarian cancer (PS-ROC) who had received one or more cycles of trabectedin/PLD before inclusion according to the marketing authorization. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival (PFS) according to investigator criteria.

Long-term Results After Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy for Breast Cancer: A Single-center Experience.

Background/aim: We evaluated the efficacy of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) in reducing locally-advanced breast cancer (LABC) size, thus improving breast-conserving surgery (BCS) rates, as well as its long-term outcome.

Patients And Methods: We analyzed 59 patients treated between 1999-2017 with NACT and subsequent surgery for LABC.

Results: We observed a tumor size reduction in 95% of cases, resulting in downstaging in 62.

Trabectedin in combination with pegylated liposomal doxorubicin in patients with ovarian tumors.

The majority of patients with ovarian cancer will experience relapse and thus require second-line therapy. While platinum-based therapies are the primary treatments for refractory disease other options are required, particularly for those with partially platinum-sensitive disease as their response rates are lower. Agents that can resensitize relapsed ovarian cancers to platinum, including trabectedin, are therefore of increasing interest.

Stable disease in a patient with metastatic leiomyosarcoma treated with trabectedin.

Leiomyosarcomas represent the most common variant of uterine sarcomas, and are also considered to be the least chemosensitive. To date, adriamycin and ifosfamide are believed to be the most effective drugs for its treatment, in addition to docetaxel and gemcitabine. Recently, the introduction of trabectedin has provided clinicians with another treatment option, and the drug may have some benefits for patients as it may allow for long-term treatment.

Laparoscopic Splenectomy as Quaternary Cytoreduction for Isolated Parenchymal Splenic Recurrence of Epitelial Tubo-Ovarian Cancer: Report of a Case and Literature Review.

Isolated parenchymal splenic lesions are very rare and may occur as recurrences in the form of epithelial tubo-ovarian cancer (ETOC). We report a case of solitary parenchymal splenic recurrence of ETOC, which developed 50 months after the initial treatment. A 66-year-old woman underwent laparotomic primary cytoreduction in 2008.

HER-2/neu and bcl-2 in ovarian carcinoma: clinicopathologic, immunohistochemical, and molecular study in patients with shorter and longer survival.

The bcl-2 protein is a membrane protein involved in prolonging cell survival by inhibiting apoptosis. The HER-2 oncogene, which is located on chromosome 17 and encodes for a tyrosine-kinase growth factor receptor, is amplified and HER-2/neu is overexpressed in 25% to 30% of breast carcinomas. The authors analyzed the bcl-2 expression and the bcl-2 gene and HER-2/neu overexpression and amplification in FIGO stage IIIC, serous, G3, ovarian carcinomas obtained from living patients who had no evident disease 5 years after primary treatment compared with ovarian carcinomas obtained from patients, matched for stage, grade of differentiation, and treatment, who had died of progression of disease no later than 2 years after primary treatment.

COX-2 and preoperative CA-125 level are strongly correlated with survival and clinical responsiveness to chemotherapy in ovarian cancer.

Background: CA-125 is elevated in the serum of the majority of ovarian carcinoma patients. Cyclooxygenase-2 is an enzyme whose synthesis is upgraded by several cytokines, growth factors, and tumor promoters.

Methods: We analyzed cyclooxygenase-2, preoperative CA-125 levels, and CA-125 levels during chemotherapy in 41 FIGO stage III, grade 3, ovarian serous carcinoma patients in relation to survival with a logistic regression.

Treatment of uterine sarcoma at the University of Florence from 1980-2001.

Purpose: To correlate the treatment used in uterine sarcoma with outcome. The prognostic importance of pathology, clinical parameters and treatment are analyzed.

Patients And Methods: Forty patients (median age, 59 years; range, 37-85) with histologically verified uterine sarcoma were identified from a database compiled at the University of Florence from 1980 to 2001.

Correlation of epidermal growth factor receptor expression with tumor microdensity vessels and with vascular endothelial growth factor expression in ovarian carcinoma.

We analyzed in advanced ovarian serous G3 carcinoma the correlation between epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) overexpression and tumor angiogenesis and their relation with clinical outcome. Microvessel density (MVD) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) were statistically correlated with disease-free interval and death from disease both in univariate and multivariate analyses while EGFR expression was not correlated with clinical outcome. MVD was significantly associated with progression of disease during chemotherapy while VEGF and EGFR expression were not correlated with responsiveness to chemotherapy (Fisher's exact test).

Utility of CDX-2 in distinguishing between primary and secondary (intestinal) mucinous ovarian carcinoma: an immunohistochemical comparison of 43 cases.

Primary and secondary mucinous tumors can involve the ovaries and have similar histologic appearances. The differential diagnosis is important for surgical and chemotherapeutic treatment and for the prognosis, but often it is extremely difficult. This article discusses an immunohistochemical panel that includes carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), cytokeratin (CK) 7, CK20, CA125, CA19.

c-Kit expression in patients with uterine leiomyosarcomas: a potential alternative therapeutic treatment.

Purpose: Uterine leiomyosarcomas are rare tumors characterized by their resistance to chemotherapy and radiation treatment. Surgery is the primary method of treatment, but for patients with unresectable disease, alternate therapeutic options are clearly warranted. According to initial observations of c-KIT expression, correlation with a bad prognosis, and the successful therapeutic possibility of STI571 in gastrointestinal stromal tumors, the data have encouraged us to study c-KIT expression in these tumors.

COX-2 status in relation to tumor microvessel density and VEGF expression: analysis in ovarian carcinoma patients with low versus high survival rates.

Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and microvessel density (MVD) have been reported to be significantly related to carcinogenesis and to tumoral progression. The aim of the study was to analyse immunohistochemically the overexpression of COX-2 and VEGF, and the MVD between one another, and also in relation with clinical outcome in ovarian carcinoma. We selected 52 patients with ovarian carcinoma homogeneous by stage, type and histological grade, surgical and chemotherapeutic treatment.