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Biomedical subjects

F Pozza

Publications and source records attributed to F Pozza.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1983

Treatment of 49 unrandomized patients with advanced Hodgkin's disease.

Forty-nine patients with previously untreated advanced Hodgkin's disease were treated in our Institution between 1973 and 1981. Treatment modalities of these patients were reviewed, and they were divided into 3 groups according to the treatment employed: 13 patients received MOPP only, 22 patients received MOPP plus involved field radiotherapy, and 14 received alternating MOPP/ABVD chemotherapy. The response rates for the 3 groups were respectively 38.5%, 63.6% and 78.6%. A longer follow-up is needed to assess a significant difference in survival curves. The advantages of adjuvant radiotherapy and alternating non-cross-resistant drugs in advanced Hodgkin's disease are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Relationship of the epidermal growth factor-receptor to the growth fraction (Ki-67 antibody) and the flow cytometric S-phase as cell kinetics parameters, in human mammary carcinomas.

Epidermal growth factor (EGF) has been shown to have a mitogenic effect on some breast cancer cells lines in vitro. The growth of the subclass of human breast tumors which expresses the specific receptor for EGF seems to be mediated by autocrine mechanisms rather than steroid hormones. The expression of EGF-receptor, as detected by an immunocytochemical method, was compared with the Growth Fraction (GF) by the Ki-67 monoclonal antibody and the S-phase content as tumor proliferative activity indexes, and with DNA ploidy and some pathologic features in 86 stage I-II breast carcinomas. Overall 52 out of 86 (60%) of the tumors were EGF-receptor positive. There was no correlation between the cell kinetics parameters and the EGF-receptor status, suggesting that its expression may be unrelated to the proliferative activity of the tumor in these clinical stages and that the EGF-receptor GF and S-phase may be independent variables in breast cancer. In our series 57% of tumors were DNA aneuploid and only a trend was found towards EGF-receptor positivity (P = 0.08). There was no correlation between EGF-receptor expression and grading or node-status. The overall picture is that of an independent relationship between EGF-receptor with the cell kinetics parameters and ploidy, confirming the complex and heterogeneous biology of breast carcinoma. These results suggest the possibility of better recognition of subsets of patients with diverse tumor aggressiveness, combining together EGF-receptor status, cell kinetics and ploidy, with a better stratification for treatment options.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Conservative surgery and irradiation (QUART) in the treatment of 243 stage I-II breast cancer patients.

From 1980 to 1987, 243 evaluable patients with pT1, pT2 (less than 3 centimeters in diameter), N0, M0, invasive breast cancer were treated with "quadrantectomy" with axillary dissection followed by electron beam radiation therapy (QUART) at the St. Bortolo Hospital, Vicenza. Stage II patients received adjuvant chemotherapy (CMF) if preperimenopausal or hormonotherapy (tamoxifen) if postmenopausal. The median follow-up was 54 months (26 to 116 months). The 4.5-year overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) were respectively 91% and 85%; the 10-year actuarially estimated OS and DFS was 77%. Thirty-three patients relapsed, 11 of whom had local recurrence, and 23 developed distant metastases. A significantly longer OS and DFS were observed in stage I versus stage II (p = 0.0008) and in pT1 versus pT2 (p = 0.001) tumors. No difference was found regarding menopausal status and histotype. The local control of disease was very high (95.5%), with a significantly higher local recurrence rate in premenopausal women compared to postmenopausal (10/117 versus 1/126; p = 0.009). Tumor size did not influence the frequency of local recurrence. No major complications occurred but a significantly higher rate of reversible radiation-pneumonitis occurred in patients treated with higher energies of electrons (17 to 20 MeV) compared with lower (6 to 13 MeV) (33/177 versus 7/66; p less than 0.05). Cosmetic results were judged as excellent in 20%, satisfactory in 68%, unsatisfactory in 6% and not evaluable in 6% of cases. We conclude first, that small pT2 breast carcinomas may also be safely treated with QUART, second, that the electron beam is a radiotherapeutic technique able to produce a good cosmetic result and to assure a satisfactory local control and, finally, that the use of tamoxifen in postmenopausal stage II breast carcinomas is safe and easy to combine with radiotherapy in the conservative management of early breast cancer due to the lower toxic effects, compared to those observed in premenopausal women treated with chemotherapy.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Breast cancer cell kinetics: immunocytochemical determination of growth fractions by monoclonal antibody Ki-67 and correlation with flow cytometric S-phase and with some features of tumor aggressiveness.

In operable breast cancer, cell kinetics can be utilized in the prediction of the clinical outcome of patients. The discovery of monoclonal antibodies recognizing antigens related to cell proliferation has permitted the assessment of cell kinetics by rapid and practical immunocytochemical methods. It is claimed that the Ki-67 mouse monoclonal antibody recognizes an antigen expressed in proliferating cells but not present in quiescent (G0) cells. To study the relationship between Ki-67 score and DNA flow cytometric S-Phase Fraction (SPF), the latter being one of the most widely used methods to assess cell kinetics, we compared these two techniques of measurement in 122 breast carcinomas using both for each specimen. In this series 90% of tumors were Ki-67 positive, with a median value of 7.5% (range 1% to 70%). DNA flow cytometric analysis revealed that 69 tumors (57%) were aneuploid, whereas 53 were diploid. The median SPF value was 8% for diploid and 15% for aneuploid tumors (range 2% to 32%). Ki-67 scores were significantly higher in the DNA aneuploid compared to the diploid carcinomas (p = 0.015). Overall, a good correlation was found between Ki-67 and SPF values both in diploid (r = 0.60) and in aneuploid (r = 0.38) tumors. High Ki-67 scores were associated with the presence of axillary lymph node metastases (p = 0.0023) and poor histologic differentiation (p = 0.0028). Menopausal status, tumor size and peritumoral vessel invasion were unrelated to the Ki-67 score. Over-expression of the Epidermal Growth Factor receptor (EGF-r) and the c-erbB-2 oncogene were not correlated with Ki-67 staining. In conclusion, in this study Ki-67 immunostaining correlated with other indices of cell proliferation (SPF and Grade) and with some features of tumor aggressiveness (DNA aneuploidy and lymph node metastases) but seemed to be independent of some biological markers (EGR-r and c-erbB-2). Since the major objective for assessing proliferative status in Stage I-II breast carcinoma is to determine prognosis, it will have to be evaluated whether the determination of the Growth Fraction has comparable or even greater prognostic value than other cell kinetics markers.

Aneuploidy↗
PubMedDate not supplied

A retrospective analysis concerning physical aspects and clinical dosimetry in radiosurgery.

The authors have reviewed their experience with treatments of small intracranial lesions by unconventionally fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy using a 4 MV photon beam. Treatment is carried out by multiple non coplanar arc irradiation obtained rotating the target, while kept at the isocentre of a Linac, around a vertical axis. The outmost concentration of the dose within the target volume enables consistent reduction of the amount of the absorbed dose by critical structures of the intact brain. They analyse the dose distribution and the method to optimise the choice of the therapeutic dose. Finally, some radiobiological considerations are presented.

Humans↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Stereotactic radiosurgery of intracranial tumors in childhood.

The Authors have developed an original stereotactic technique by which the radiation dose erogated by a 4 MV linear accelerator is focused into the target volume with a steep dose gradient at its borders. The technique has been employed in a series of 30 patients affected by deep seated brain tumors and AVMs. The paper deals with the preliminary results obtained in a series of 10 patients in pediatric age.

Adolescent↗