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Biomedical subjects

F Landoni

Publications and source records attributed to F Landoni.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

An analysis of approaches to the treatment of endometrial cancer in western Europe: a CTF study.

The role of this research is to define the clinical-therapeutic approach to endometrial cancer currently being followed in some of the most important centres of reference for gynaecological cancer in Western Europe. Data was collected by means of a questionnaire, concerning specific diagnostic and therapeutic options, sent to 115 leading centres for gynaecological oncology in Western Europe, and 82 responses were received. The analysis of the management of this neoplasia in Western European countries shows significant differences regarding some particular clinical conditions. Only 24.4% of the interviewed centres stated that they perform lymphadenectomy routinely, whereas it is most commonly reserved for specific pathological conditions. The presence of lymph node spread is generally considered to be the most important prognostic element, and currently, radiotherapy of the pelvis appears to be the treatment of choice either as the sole postsurgical therapy (57%) or in combination with systemic treatment. An adjuvant treatment in stage I lymph node-negative patients is adopted in the large majority of the centres (70.5%) when poorly differentiated cancer (46%) and/or deep myometrial invasion (33.3%) are present. In this condition, radiotherapy appears to be the therapy of choice. Histotype and grading are generally recognised as important risk factors and result in treatment modification; the high percentage of primary surgical modifications is considerable (63.4%) in stage I grade 3 cancers that primarily require lymphadenectomy or recourse to radical hysterectomy. The results of our study indicate that there is no leading therapy in the advanced stages of endometrial cancers, but each therapeutic modality is adopted to more or less the same extent.

Age Factors↗

Repair of the perineal defect after radical vulvar surgery: direct closure versus skin flaps reconstruction. A retrospective comparative study.

From 1987 to 1990, 72 consecutive patients with primary untreated vulvar cancer underwent radical vulvar surgery with skin flaps reconstruction of the perineal defect. Postoperative complications, anatomical and functional results of this group of patients were compared with those of an historical control group of 77 patients submitted, at the same institution, to radical vulvectomy without reconstructive procedure from 1982 through 1986. The time of operation was significantly longer (180 minutes +/- 15 versus 120 minutes +/- 20) (p = 0.05) for patients submitted to the reconstructive procedure, while there was no statistically significant difference in intraoperative blood loss and hospital stay between the 2 groups. In comparison with direct closure, reconstructive procedures resulted in a significant lower rate of wound dehiscences (26% versus 64%) (p = 0.0001), vaginal introitus stenosis (2 versus 8) (p = 0.0001), sexual dysfunction (10% versus 50%) (p = 0.0001) and misdirection of the urinary stream (1 versus 5) (p = 0.001). It was concluded that skin flaps reconstruction is simple, reduces postoperative morbidity, and provides better anatomical and functional results than direct closure of the perineal defect.

Adult↗

Effectiveness of autologous blood transfusion in patients undergoing radical hysterectomy.

Autologous blood transfusion (ABT) is a safe and useful procedure in patients undergoing elective surgery, but it has not been recommended for radical hysterectomy with pelvic lymphadenectomy. We retrospectively evaluated the results of an ABT programme in 146 consecutive women undergoing radical hysterectomy and pelvic lymphadenectomy for cervical carcinoma at our institution. Forty women underwent autologous blood transfusion after predeposit; 23 underwent preoperative normovolemic haemodilution; 38 were eligible but could not receive autologous blood transfusion for logistic reasons; 45 were excluded for medical reasons. 126 units of blood were collected, of which 100 (80%) were reinfused. The donation procedure was well-tolerated and no transfusion reaction was observed. Homologous blood transfusion was needed in 13% of patients receiving predeposit or haemodilution (8/63), in 42% of patients that were eligible but not receiving autologous blood transfusion (16/(38), and in 71% of non-eligible patients (32/45). The total number of units of homologous blood required for transfusion was lower in patients undergoing predeposit or haemodilution (14) than in those included in the observation arm (43). Autologous blood transfusion is a safe practice which greatly reduces the need for homologous blood transfusion, and radical hysterectomy with pelvic lymphadenectomy represents an adequate indication for this procedure, as the majority of deposited blood is actually reinfused.

Adult↗

[Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging in the staging of adenocarcinoma of the uterine cervix].

Clinical staging is often inaccurate in the evaluation of local extension of cervical carcinoma. In the present study the sensivity of MR imaging in predicting extracervical tumor invasion on the basis of the detection of a thinning of the univolved cervical stromal ring (3 mm or less) was compared to the sensivity achieved by direct visualization of a complete stomal interruption. Fifteen consecutive patients with adenocarcinoma of the uterine cervix (FIGO stage Ib-IIa), were examined with axial and sagittal weighed MR sequences. Pathologic proof after hysterectomy was obtained in all subjects. The sensitivity in predicting extracervical involvement on the basis of the MR Imaging visualization of a thinned stroma was 83%, whereas the sensitivity obtained by detection of a complete stromal interruption was 50%. Among women with a spared cervical stroma of more than 3 mm at MR Imaging, only one had at pathologic examination microscopic metastasis in a parametrial lymphnode, accounting for a negative predictivity value of 87%. The results of our study points out a high concordance between MR Imaging findings and pathologic results, and indicate that the detection of a intact cervical stromal ring exceeding 3 mm at MR imaging is related to a very low risk of extracervical seeding of tumor. On the other side, the detection of a thinned stromal ring is related to a high incidence of parametrial invasion. The information obtained by this imaging technique may therefore be extremely useful in the accurate tailoring of treatment for these patients.

Adenocarcinoma↗

Cell kinetics of human ovarian cancer with in vivo administration of bromodeoxyuridine.

BACKGROUND: Cell kinetics could have prognostic significance in human ovarian cancer and might also help in designing optimal therapy. No data are available on the in vivo kinetics of this tumor using bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) infusion before surgery. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The kinetic parameters of human ovarian carcinoma were investigated in vivo using BrdU incorporation and bivariate BrdU/DNA flow cytometric (FCM) analysis. Fifty-five previously untreated patients with ovarian cancer (F.I.G.O. clinical stage III and IV) were studied. BrdU (250 mg/sqm) was given i.v. 6 h before surgery and samples of primary tumor and metastasis biopsies were fixed in 70% ethanol. By coupling the BrdU immunoreaction with biparametric FCM analysis, the nuclear DNA content (i.e., ploidy status), the tumor labelling index (LI), the synthesis time (TS) and the potential doubling time of the tumor mass (Tpot) were obtained. BrdU immunodetection was done on histological sections of the same tumors. RESULTS: The majority of the tumors had a DNA aneuploid content (71.5%). The amount of BrdU-positive S-phase cells varied in different tumor samples and when several samples were taken from the same tumor. The proportion of BrdU-negative S-phase cells was large (50% of the total S phase cells) in almost all cases. The mean LI was 6.1% using FCM and 7.2% on visual count of the slide. The mean TS and Tpot were 14.7 h and 12.5 days, respectively. LI and TS were not correlated with clinical tumor stage, histological grading, residual tumor size or DNA ploidy, but Tpot was significantly higher (p < 0.05) in patients with residual tumor size < 2 cm. Univariate analysis showed that Tpot was significantly associated with the response after first-line chemotherapy (p < 0.009). In multivariate analysis only residual tumor size was related to the response. CONCLUSION: Although this in vivo BrdU technique provides information on the kinetic features of human ovarian cancers, it remains questionable whether this information has any additional value compared to currently used prognostic factors which are assessable clinically and surgically.

Analysis of Variance↗

Three-year results after neoadjuvant chemotherapy, radical surgery, and radiotherapy in locally advanced cervical carcinoma.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the complications and results of neoadjuvant treatment before surgery and radiotherapy in locally advanced cervical carcinoma. METHODS: Between March 1988 and June 1989, 24 consecutive patients with locally advanced cervical carcinoma received chemotherapy consisting of six weekly courses of cisplatin (50 mg/m2), vincristine (1 mg/m2), and bleomycin (30 mg), followed by radical hysterectomy and radiotherapy. Lymph node metastases were detected by means of lymphangiography and confirmed by fine-needle aspiration in 21 patients. RESULTS: Twenty-one women (87.5%) completed the planned sequence of treatment and 16 (66.7%) achieved objective responses. Three patients did not complete chemotherapy (one refusal, one myocardial infarction, one severe allergic reaction) and were treated further by radiotherapy. Nineteen subjects (79%) underwent subsequent radical surgery and radiotherapy without serious complications. After a minimal follow-up of 3 years, 16 patients had died of disease. Distant recurrences developed in only three of eight women in whom the nodes were negative originally, possibly reflecting systemic effectiveness of the chemotherapy. CONCLUSION: This sequence of treatment, although feasible, does not seem to improve long-term survival compared to standard treatment.

Adult↗

Right ventricular metastasis from choriocarcinoma: report of a rare case and review of the literature.

A previously healthy gravida developed chest pain and progressive dyspnea several months after delivery. A right ventricular mass rising from the septum and floating through the pulmonary valve was detected, with multiple lung nodules. With the suspicion of a primary sarcoma of the heart, she was referred for cardiac surgery. Microscopic observation of the cardiac neoplasm revealed malignant trophoblast. There was no evidence of disease in the uterus and adnexa. Combination chemotherapy with EMA-CO schedule was instituted because of the high-risk score. A complete recovery was achieved after 20 weeks of treatment and the patient is free of disease 4 years after the end of chemotherapy and is now pregnant again.

Adult↗

Potentials of cell kinetics in the management of patients with ovarian cancers.

The relevance of 3H-thymidine labeling index (3H-dt LI) on clinical outcome was evaluated on 85 patients with advanced ovarian cancers treated with carboplatin or cisplatin alone (39 cases) or cisplatin in association with doxorubicin and/or cyclophosphamide (46 cases). 3H-dT LI of the primary tumour was significantly related to the 3-year probability of survival in patients treated by monochemotherapy (low LI, 63%; high LI, 21%; P = 0.013) but not in those treated with polychemotherapy. Analysis of the relation between cell kinetics and clinical outcome as a function of treatment showed that in patients with rapidly proliferating tumours the 3-year survival was significantly higher following polychemotherapy than monochemotherapy (51 vs. 21%; P = 0.04). In patients with slowly proliferating tumours no significant difference in survival was observed following the two types of treatment for the overall series, whereas in patients not achieving a complete response survival was significantly higher following monochemotherapy than polychemotherapy (61 vs. 9%; P = 0.008).

Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols↗

Randomized trial in advanced ovarian cancer comparing cisplatin and carboplatin.

The aim of this multicenter randomized trial was to compare carboplatin (400 mg/m2) and cisplatin (100 mg/m2) in patients with untreated advanced epithelial ovarian cancer. Toxicity and treatment efficacy assessed by pathological response rate, progression-free survival, and survival were the endpoints of the study. One hundred seventy-three patients with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer, F.I.G.O. (International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics) stage III and IV were accrued in the trial. The median follow-up time was 15 months (maximum, 34); three patients in each treatment arm were not eligible (four, nonepithelial ovarian cancer type; one, no data, and one, stage II). Patient characteristics were similar in the two groups. In the carboplatin-treatment arm, the overall pathological response rate was 57.3% and the complete pathological response rate was 26.8%. In the cisplatin-treatment arm, the overall pathological response rate was 71.6% and the complete pathological response rate was 24.7%. There was no statistical difference in the two arms in survival or progression-free survival. Cisplatin was more nephrotoxic while carboplatin induced a higher degree of myelosuppression, especially thrombocytopenia; however, severe hematological toxicity was seldom observed. Carboplatin is a cisplatin analog with definite activity in ovarian cancer, but it is more active than the parent compound. Because of less nonhematological toxicity, carboplatin is undoubtedly a useful substitute in patients who cannot be given cisplatin. Further experience is needed to indicate whether or not carboplatin should completely displace cisplatin in the clinical treatment of ovarian cancer.

Adult↗

Cell kinetics: a prognostic marker in epithelial ovarian cancer.

The proliferative activities (3H-thymidine labeling index, LI) of 72 primary ovarian cancers and 76 metastatic lesions from untreated patients were evaluated. Overall, median LI values for primary and metastatic lesions were similar (7.8 vs 7.0%), but cell kinetics significantly differed in metastases from different sites. The LI of the primary tumor was unrelated to pathologic stage and histology, but was significantly correlated with histologic grading (P = .014). The prognostic relevance of LI was assessed for 43 untreated patients at stage III-IV (90% with bulky residual disease), treated after staging laparatomy with five cycles of cisplatin or of carboplatin. For 19 patients the LI was determined for both primary tumor and metastases, for 15 for the primary, and for 12 for the metastatic lesions. Complete remission (CR) was unrelated to pretreatment LI, although a trend toward a higher rate of CR was observed with rapidly proliferating tumors. Patients with slowly proliferating primary tumors had a higher probability of 1.5-year survival than patients with rapidly proliferating tumors (83 vs 50%). The difference was even greater between patients with both primary and metastatic lesions proliferating slowly (100%) and patients with at least one (61%) or both lesions proliferating rapidly (60%). Pretreatment LI was not predictive for survival in subgroups of patients who attained CR, but it was quite predictive for survival in patients responding only partially or not at all (90 vs 32%, P = .025).

Antineoplastic Agents↗

Flow cytometric analysis of DNA content in human ovarian cancers.

A total of 155 samples from 101 patients with ovarian cancer were investigated using flow cytometry to evaluate the DNA index and the percentage of cells in the various cell cycle phases. Thirty-four samples were DNA diploid tumours, while the other 121 were DNA aneuploid tumours. The DNA index was very stable in different sites and over time in the same patient. Tumour stage and ploidy were significantly associated: stages III and IV tumour stage were more likely to be DNA aneuploid. Patients with residual tumour size at first surgery greater than 2 cm had a significantly larger number of DNA aneuploid than DNA diploid tumours. The DNA index was also related to the degree of differentiation of the tumours. The percentage of cells in the S phase of the cell cycle was significantly higher in DNA aneuploid and in poorly differentiated tumours than DNA diploid and well differentiated tumours. Multivariate analysis using the Cox model showed that the DNA index and the percentage of cells in S phase were not independent prognostic variables in this study. Prospectively collected data should be accumulated before assigning the DNA index an important role as a biological prognostic factor in ovarian cancer.

DNA, Neoplasm↗

Cefotetan versus piperacillin in the prophylaxis of abdominal and vaginal hysterectomy: a prospective randomized study.

A prospective randomized study was carried out on a total of 686 patients who underwent vaginal or abdominal hysterectomy. Of these, 338 were given prophylactic cefotetan (2 g) and 348 piperacillin (2 g). Both drugs were administered as i.v. bolus 30 min before operation. Findings confirm the higher risk of infection with abdominal hysterectomy and the advantages of the long half-life cephalosporin, cefotetan.

Cefotetan↗

Steroid receptors in epithelial ovarian carcinoma: relation to clinical parameters and survival.

Estrogen receptor (ER) and progestin receptor were measured in samples of tumors obtained at first laparotomy from 97 previously untreated patients suffering with a primary ovarian epithelial tumor, for whom a 3-year follow-up was available. The presence or absence of steroid receptors (threshold arbitrarily fixed at 10 fmol/mg of cytoplasmic protein) was determined by the dextran coated charcoal method and related to a number of patient characteristics such as the residual disease (cutoff, 2 cm), histological type, International Federation of Gynecologists and Obstetricians grade and stage, and age. Results were analyzed by univariate and multivariate methods. (a) The tumor ER positivity was associated with better survival; progestin receptor showed a similar trend but did not reach statistical significance. (b) After stratification for residual tumor the association ER positivity/better survival was still statistically significant in the subset of patients with residual tumor greater than 2 cm. (c) When the median survival times were considered it became apparent that progestin receptor absence nullified the effect associated with positive ER. (d) Multivariate analysis confirmed that among the variables considered the main determinants of prognosis were the size of the residual tumor, serous histological type, and positive ER.

Adult↗

EMA/CO regimen in high-risk gestational trophoblastic tumor (GTT).

From June 1980 through December 1985, 36 high-risk GTT patients received Bagshawe's EMA/CO regimen, 22 as first-line, and 14 as second-line treatment, after primary chemotherapy with CHAMOCA, or cyclic regimen, or MTX-CF. All treated patients were metastatic at the start of treatment with EMA/CO; three showed liver metastases and one brain metastasis. Seventeen patients had a high score, greater than 15. Nineteen patients had histologically confirmed diagnosis of choriocarcinoma. The overall response rate was 86% with 81% survival during a median observation time of 32 months. The median number of courses needed to achieve complete remission was 3 (range 3-7). Toxicity was acceptable, and was less than with CHAMOCA and MAC regimens. Only 1 out of 17 high-risk patients developed drug resistance, and 3 needed urgent surgery. The relapse rate of responders was 19% after a median of 5.5 months. The survival rate of high-risk patients was 88%, of which 76% are alive with no evidence of disease, while 12% have still detectable beta-chorionic gonadotrophin. The remission rate in the second-line treatment group was 64%, higher than using other regimens such as MAC or CHAMOCA. In conclusion, we consider EMA/CO to be the best choice for patients with high-risk GTT, because it is effective and well tolerated. In our opinion, the cure rate of high-risk GTT could perhaps be improved by starting trials to establish what salvage treatment to employ after EMA/CO failure and using more aggressive first-line chemotherapy in selected high-risk patients, on the basis of the scoring system.

Adult↗

Absolute and relative activities of platinum-complexes on human tumors as evaluated by an antimetabolic in vitro assay.

An in vitro assay, which evaluates drug effect on 3H-thymidine incorporation, was used to investigate the absolute and relative activities of cisplatin (DDP), carboplatin (CBDCA) and iproplatin (CHIP) on 317 specimens from untreated tumors, including breast and ovarian cancers and malignant melanomas. Similar activities were generally observed for DDP and CHIP, whereas CBDCA exhibited a lower, although not significantly different cytotoxicity on breast and ovarian cancers. The relative activities of Platinum analogues were analyzed on 239 two-way drug sensitivity comparisons. The overall agreement rates ranged from 80.2 to 83.9% for the different comparisons. High coresistance, from 61.1 to 93.8%, was observed for all the comparisons, regardless of the tumor type. Cosensitivity rates were poor for breast and ovarian cancers, from 0 to 37.5%, whereas for melanomas an association in sensitivity was observed in 80% of the cases.

Antineoplastic Agents↗

Cisplatin, vinblastine, and bleomycin combination chemotherapy in endodermal sinus tumor of the ovary.

The combination of cisplatin, vinblastine, and bleomycin was administered to 13 previously untreated patients with pure endodermal sinus tumor of the ovary. Twelve had unilateral salpingo-oophorectomy as initial surgery. Among 11 women whose alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) levels returned to normal after cisplatin, vinblastine, and bleomycin therapy, nine are alive with no evidence of disease after periods of 20 months to six years and two months. In two patients, AFP levels returned to normal only after the introduction of different combination chemotherapies. Hematologic toxicity was moderate. Pulmonary toxicity due to bleomycin occurred in two cases. All menstruating patients resumed normal menstrual function after the interruption of chemotherapy. Two patients delivered normal term infants.

Adolescent↗