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Biomedical subjects

E Tucci

Publications and source records attributed to E Tucci.

66 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

Localized bacillary angiomatosis in the oral cavity: observations about a neoplasm with atypical behavior. Description of a case and review of the literature.

Bacillary angiomatosis is a rather frequent infectious pathology appearing mainly in the skin but can also affect the liver, spleen, heart, bones, lungs, muscles, central nervous system and other organs. The localization of the lesion in the oral cavity is rather rare, as it is evident in the literature. Bacillary angiomatosis can be clinically similar to the Kaposi's sarcoma and histologically confused with angiosarcoma, epitheloid hemangioma and pyogenic granuloma. A case of bacillary angiomatosis of the oral cavity in an immuno-competent patient is described. The high tendency to relapse, the capability in migration and to involve several localizations at the same time have induced the authors to deepen the research to exclude the possibility that it could be a Kaposi's sarcoma or a pyogenic granuloma and to get to an accurate diagnosis in order to resolve the disease.

Adolescent↗

[Changes in performance status in patients with pulmonary carcinoma treated with mono-fractionation radiotherapy once a week].

45 patients with lung cancer at the III and IV stage were treated with once-a-week radiation therapy. Treatments were carried out with a daily fraction, at beginning, of 880 rad (2100 ret) (14 pz.) and 550 rad (1500 ret) afterwards. In both cases the total dose was 4400 rad. All the patients had symptoms of locally advanced cancer: cough (46%), hemoptysis (31%), dyspnea (62%) and chest pain (28%). All of them were out-patients (ECOG 0-1) and presented a Performance Status by Karnofsky of 50-80. The average age was 60 (median 65, range 38-85) with a raised percent (50%) of collateral illness. The selection of once-a-week technique was determined by the bad prognosis and the necessity of symptoms' control, allowing the patients to stay in his proper social and family group. All the time of therapy and the follow-up the values of Performance Status were assigned scrupulously. The analysis showed that the 80% of the patients had a subjective improvement which lasted, on average, 4 months (range 1-21) with an increase of 20 points of Performance Status after the end of therapies. Concluding, the high percentage of success on symptoms presented by the patients, confirms the validity of weekly radiotherapy, which guarantees, besides the palliative effect, the psychological integrity which is necessary in the last period of the life of cancer patient.

Adult↗

[Echotomography and hyperechoic angiomas of the liver. The structural aspects in 297 cases].

Two-hundred-seventy-nine hyperechoic liver hemangiomas were studied with sonography (US) in order to define their structural patterns and the incidence of the different signs that could be used for diagnostic purpose. For each hemangioma the following parameters were considered: hypoechoic areas inside the mass, posterior acoustic enhancement, hypoechoic halo surrounding the lesion, posterior attenuation, and calcifications. Hemangiomas were equally frequent in both sexes (1:1.1), and many patients presented with multiple lesions (44.7%). Hypoechoic areas were present in 70% of the hemangiomas, and acoustic enhancement in 29%. Other signs had a lower incidence: hypoechoic halo 2.86%, posterior attenuation 2.15%, and calcifications 1.1%. The authors believe that, in non-neoplastic patients, a hyperechoic hepatic lesion presenting with hypoechoic areas and acoustic enhancement, with no surrounding hypoechoic halo, can be confidently diagnosed as a hemangioma by US alone.

Adolescent↗

[CT whole body scanning in pulmonary oat cell carcinoma (author's transl)].

By study about 18 patients suffering from oat cell carcinoma of the lung with systematic analysis with CT over target-organs, the authors have verified a more careful evaluation, regards traditional radiological methods of probable metastatic lesions. This advantage may influence accuracy of treatment plane, but not the fatal, brief-term evolution of this affection.

Carcinoma, Small Cell↗

[Combined chemo-radiotherapy in non-operable cervico-facial neoplasms. Final results of an experience with non-selected patients].

The management of advanced inoperable head and neck cancer is often based on a combined chemo-radiotherapy approach. No definitive conclusions on the effectiveness of this combination can be drawn from clinical trials because these neoplasms are heterogeneous and treatment schedules vary. Many scientific trials test highly toxic combinations, whereas not only good results but also low toxicity are mandatory in the current practice. We report the results obtained in 90 consecutive patients affected with inoperable head and neck cancers in stages III-IV, or relapsed after surgery. Chemotherapy consisted of a cis-platinum/bleomycin induction phase, followed by weekly administrations of cis-platinum simultaneous with conventional irradiation. The objective remission rates, achieved at the end of the induction chemotherapy and the simultaneous chemo-radiotherapy phases, were respectively 55.5% and 84.5%. The tumor disappeared in 39% of cases, by the end of the whole treatment. With the Kaplan-Meier method, 3-year overall, progression-free and relapse-free survival rates were 21.20%, 22.25% and 38.75%, respectively. The overall survival rate, calculated with the "log-rank" test according to the stage and the site of the primary tumor, exhibited no significant differences. In contrast, significant differences (p < 0.05) were demonstrated, according to treatment intent (curative radical: 26%, vs palliative: 0%) and to the achievement of an objective response at the end of induction chemotherapy--i.e., 48% 3-year survival rate, vs 7% in chemotherapy resistant cancer patients. When limiting the analysis to 72 radically irradiated patients, however, the achievement of CR after induction chemotherapy lost its prognostic value. Toxicity was not substantially higher than with conventional irradiation. Our results are in agreement with literature data on this subject which, regarding survival, fail to prove such integrated treatments as ours better than irradiation alone. In contrast, the preliminary combination of chemotherapy and irradiation is clearly better for the patients waiting to receive radiation therapy, because tumor volume and related symptoms markedly decrease after induction chemotherapy. Currently the best survival rates (about 50% at 3 years) with chemo-radiotherapy are obtained, in this kind of cancer, by combining cis-platinum and continuous-infusion 5-fluorouracil, simultaneous with irradiation. However, frequent and severe toxicity is reported. Should such a modality be adopted in the current practice, patients should be selected according to their medical conditions.

Adult↗

[Adenomatoid hyperplasia of the minor salivary glands. Report of a clinical case].

The authors describe a case of adenomatoid hyperplasia of a minor salivary gland. On the basis of the literature, they discuss the clinical, diagnostic and therapeutic aspects and dwell upon the value of the histologic examination as the only way to achieve a correct diagnosis, because the lesion cannot be clinically discriminated from the tumoral lesions.

Adenoma↗

A phase II study of VM-26 plus lonidamine in pretreated small cell lung cancer.

BACKGROUND: SCLC relapsing or refractory after induction chemotherapy is a chemoresistant tumor. The outcome of salvage chemotherapy is poor, with low response rates (< 30%) and short survival times (3-4 months). The development of drug resistance is considered the major cause of failure of treatment. VM-26 is one of the most active drugs in SCLC. Lonidamine has shown to enhance in both vivo and vitro antitumor activity of several cytotoxic drugs acting on drug resistance mechanisms. MATERIALS AND METHODS: VM-26 and lonidamine were employed as salvage chemotherapy in 30 small cell lung cancer patients. The doses of chemotherapy used were: VM-26 100 mg/m2, i.v., days 1 to 3; lonidamine 600 mg, p.o., days 1 to 5, recycled every 3 weeks. RESULTS: We observed 13.3% of objective response and a median survival of 4 months. All the responses were obtained in patients relapsing after a response to induction chemotherapy. Toxicity was moderate with no toxic death. CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows that Lonidamine failed to increase the VM-26 activity in pretreated small cell lung cancer patients.

Adult↗