Biomedical subjects

Luca Cozzaglio

Publications and source records attributed to Luca Cozzaglio.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2002

Quality of life and length of survival in advanced cancer patients on home parenteral nutrition.

BACKGROUND: The use of home parenteral nutrition (HPN) in patients with advanced cancer is controversial because survival is usually short and there are no data regarding the quality of life (QoL). METHODS: Sixty-nine advanced cancer patients enrolled in a program of HPN in six different Italian centers were prospectively studied as regards nutritional status (body weight, serum albumin, serum transferrin and total lymphocyte count), length of survival and QoL through the Rotterdam Symptom Checklist questionnaire. These variables were collected at the start of HPN and then at monthly intervals. All these patients were severely malnourished, almost aphagic and beyond any possibility of cure. RESULTS: Nutritional indices maintained stable until death. Median survival was 4 months (range 1-14) and about one-third of patients survived more than 7 months. QoL parameters remained stable till 2-3 months before death. CONCLUSIONS: HPN may benefit a limited percentage of patients who may survive longer than the time allowed by a condition of starvation and depletion. Provided that these patients survive longer than 3 months, there is some evidence that QoL remains stable for some months and acceptable for the patients.

Adult↗

PubMed1998

Concurrent Pheochromocytoma, Paraganglioma, Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma, and Desmoid Tumor: A Case Report with Analyses at the Molecular Level.

Reports on the association of papillary thyroid carcinoma with paraganglionic or desmoid tumors have appeared infrequently. The former setting usually affects middle-aged females; the latter is typical of familial adenomatous polyposis. We report the case of a 69-yr-old man in whom two abdominal masses had been instrumentally detected following an access of abdominal pain. Save for a moderate hypertension, he was asymptomatic and an impalpable thyroid nodule was detected by ultrasonography. A high urinary noradrenaline output and cytology of the masses raised the suspicion of pheochromocytoma. At laparotomy, an adrenal pheochromocytoma and a paracaval paraganglioma were excised. Subsequently, hemithyroidectomy was performed, and histopathology revealed papillary microcarcinoma. A nodule of desmoid tumor was also removed from the abdominal wall. An analysis of RET, APC, and TP53 gene mutations, and of RET and NTRK1 gene rearrangements, yielded negative results. No in vitro transforming activity was detected in the tumor DNA when assayed in transfection experiments. The lack of a consistent family history also made unlikely the possibility of identifying the putative germline defect by linkage analyses. Should this unusual aggregation of tumors represent a new entity, a number of genetic alterations have now been excluded.

Journal Article↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Gastric cancer: extent of lymph node dissection and requirements for a correct staging.

AIMS AND BACKGROUND: Lymphatic spread is an important prognostic factor in gastric cancer. The TNM classification requires at least 15 lymph nodes to stage and identify three prognostic groups according to the number of metastatic lymph nodes: N1 (1-6), N2 (7-15), N3 (> 15). The aim of this study was to investigate which type of lymph node dissection allows an accurate staging. METHODS: From 1996 to 2001, we treated 140 gastric cancer patients, 27 with D1 and 113 with D2 dissection. We evaluated lymph node count, status and ratio between metastatic and total number of excised lymph nodes, keeping 20% as the cutoff value. RESULTS: The mean number of lymph nodes was 18 and 33 respectively for D1 and D2 (P < 0.001), 41% of patients in D1 and 5% in D2 had less than 15 lymph nodes (P < 0.001). 59% in D1 and 73% in D2 (P = 0.145) had lymph node metastases, but this incidence decreased to 36% (P = 0.045) and 16% (P < 0.001) respectively for D1 and D2 when less than 15 lymph nodes were available. Considering the ratio between metastatic and total number of lymph nodes, 45% of D1 versus 3% of D2 (P < 0.001) in the N1 group exceeded 20%. CONCLUSIONS: D2 lymph node dissection is better than D1 in providing at least 15 lymph nodes required for a correct staging. We confirm the risk of a downstage when less than 15 lymph nodes are available.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Does the Roux-en-Y-stasis syndrome still exist?].

Roux-en-Y-stasis syndrome (RYS) is a complication of subtotal gastrectomy characterized by delayed gastric emptying and vomiting. The aim of the study was to analyze RYS frequency with particular attention to diagnosis and therapy. From November 1996 to June 2004, we performed 147 distal gastrectomies with 5 cases of RYS: mean age 78 years, 3 male, 2 female, 4 adenocarcinoma and 1 GIST. Among the 5 cases, RYS was due to different causes: it was functional in 2 cases (with difficult gastric emptying due to a long gastric remnant in one patient, while the other was associated with duodenal fistula) and healed through medical therapy in both; a third patient had an edematous stenosis of the gastrojejunal anastomosis treated with medical therapy and the remaining 2 patients had jejunal obstruction due to adherences and required reoperations. RYS is a rare complication of subtotal gastrectomy determined by different causes. Recognizing the cause is very important for choice of appropriate therapy.

Adenocarcinoma↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[The lymph node dissection in thyroid carcinoma].

Rule and indications of lymph node dissection (LD) in thyroid carcinoma is still under debate because of the biological variety of different histological types and the difficulty to have an accurate preoperative diagnosis of metastatic lymph nodes; moreover prognostic factors of metastatic lymph nodes are still unclear. The AA. have separately analyzed different thyroid carcinomas and different clinical situations requiring thyroid LD. Metastatic lymph nodes from differentiated carcinomas, including papillary and follicular type, range from 12 to 90% and apparently do not worsen the prognosis. Level II-VI LD is indicated in presence of metastatic lymph nodes or macroscopic nodal recurrence after a previous LD. No prognostic advantages have been demonstrated when LD is performed without clinical or instrumental evidence of metastatic disease, including suspected recurrence characterised only by plasma Thyreoglobulin increased values. Lymph node metastases from medullary carcinoma range from 25 to 63%. Level II-VI LD is indicated if node metastases are present, whereas prophylactic LD, confined to level VI, is always recommended. Controversies still remain about: 1) LD extension whether it is prophylactic (level VI vs. II- VI) or in case of nodal involvement (levels II- VI monolateral or bilateral), 2) LD indications in case of an increased plasma Calcitonin levels during the follow-up after total thyroidectomy, without clinical or instrumental evidence of nodes involvement. Anaplastic carcinoma represents 5% of all thyroid carcinomas; it is the most aggressive type with an early tendency to invade surrounding organs and to give metastases; prognosis is very poor. LD is indicated only for a palliation in cases with compression syndromes.

Carcinoma↗