Biomedical subjects

P Zucali

Publications and source records attributed to P Zucali.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2001

Timing of breast cancer surgery in relation to the menstrual cycle: an update of developments.

It is well-established that hormones have multiple effects on breast cancer. Some, but not all studies indicate that the phase of the menstrual cycle (and hence hormonal status) at the time of breast surgery may influence survival. In this paper we review the literature in this area, explore how it is possible that such an association may occur, and note that randomised studies which unambiguously determined the phase of the cycle at the time of the operation are lacking. We go on to describe an ongoing self-randomised trial designed to address this problem and present preliminary results which show that only about 75% of the women ovulated during the cycle in which the operation took place, and that the established prognostic factor Ki-67 varied with the phase of the cycle in women who ovulated. It is too early to assess the significance of this finding.

Breast Neoplasms↗

PubMed1998

Particle beam therapy (hadrontherapy): basis for interest and clinical experience.

The particle or hadron beams deployed in radiotherapy (protons, neutrons and helium, carbon, oxygen and neon ions) have physical and radiobiological characteristics which differ from those of conventional radiotherapy beams (photons) and which offer a number of theoretical advantages over conventional radiotherapy. After briefly describing the properties of hadron beams in comparison to photons, this review discusses the indications for hadrontherapy and analyses accumulated experience on the use of this modality to treat mainly neoplastic lesions, as published by the relatively few hadrontherapy centres operating around the world. The analysis indicates that for selected patients and tumours (particularly uveal melanomas and base of skull/spinal chordomas and chondrosarcomas), hadrontherapy produces greater disease-free survival. The advantages of hadrontherapy are most promisingly realised when used in conjunction with modern patient positioning, radiation delivery and focusing techniques (e.g. on-line imaging, three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy) developed to improve the efficacy of photon therapy. Although the construction and running costs of hadrontherapy units are considerably greater than those of conventional facilities, a comprehensive analysis that considers all the costs, particularly those resulting from the failure of less effective conventional radiotherapy, might indicate that hadrontherapy could be cost effective. In conclusion, the growing interest in this form of treatment seems to be fully justified by the results obtained to date, although more efficacy and dosing studies are required.

Central Nervous System Neoplasms↗

PubMed1998

Optimized sentinel node scintigraphy in breast cancer.

INTRODUCTION: Axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) represents an important staging procedure in the surgical treatment of breast cancer. However, it may result necessary in tumors of little dimensions because of low percentage of metastatic axillary lymph node (ALN). If a non invasive technique predicted the status of ALN, ALND procedures could be avoided. We carried out this study i) to establish the best technique to perform the lymphoscintigraphy for detecting the sentinel node in breast cancer and ii) to determine whether a clear sentinel node reliably predicts a disease free axilla. METHODS: 215 patients were submitted to the lymphoscintigraphy before surgery. Three different colloidal radiotracers with particle size ranging between < 50 and 1000 nm were injected sudermically or peritumorally. Early and late images were recorded in anterior and oblique projections and the SN was marked on the skin and biopsied using a gamma detection probe (GDP) during surgery. RESULTS: The SN was identified in 210/215 cases (97.6%). The SN accurately predicted axillary ALN status in 204/210 (97.1%) patients in whom a sentinel node was identified and in all the cases (45 patients) with tumor < 1.5 cm in diameter. In 38/101 cases with metastatic axillary nodes (37.7%) the only positive node was the SN. CONCLUSIONS: Lymphoscintigraphy can easily locate the SN in breast cancer. SN detection resulted easier when large size microcolloids were used. Subdermally administration appeared the best way of injection for palpable lesions. Breast cancer patients without clinical involvement of the axilla should undergo SN biopsy routinely and this may allow sparing complete axillary dissection when the SN is free of disease.

Antimony↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Combination of 5-Fluorouracil and folinic acid--is it still the standard therapy for advanced colorectal carcinoma?].

After a long period in which the only therapeutic approach for the management of colorectal cancer was the optimization of fluoropyrimidine-based chemotherapy, the last few years have seen the emergence of newly active chemotherapeutic agents endowed with novel mechanisms of action, such as oxaliplatin (OHP), irinotecan (CPT11), raltitrexed and oral 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) pro-drugs which can offer new therapeutic possibilities. The availability of these different classes of cytotoxic agents has introduced the possibility of combination chemotherapy. The most widely studied combinations are 5-FU/folinic acid (FA)/CPT11 and 5-FU/FA/OHP, both of which have been tested in two randomized studies. These trials consistently demonstrated that the addition of CPT11 or OHP to widely accepted infusional/bolus 5-FU/FA regimens is superior to the same 5-FU/FA schedule alone in term of response rate (rate of about > 50%) and time to progression. It's worth nothing that both trials with the combination of 5-FU/FA/CPT11 showed a significant survival benefit. Toxicity profiles were more pronounced with the combination therapies but the quality of life evaluation showed that the combinations had no negative impact on the evolution of the global health status over time. A current ongoing randomized study compares 5-FU/FA/CPT11 with 5-FU/FA/OHP in order to identify the best first-line chemotherapy. Preliminary results in terms of objective response and toxicity are similar for both treatments. Raltitrexed is a thymidilate synthase inhibitor with activity comparable to 5-FU and a convenient administration schedule. In our institution, we performed a phase II single center trial to assess the efficacy of the combination of raltitrexed and CPT11. The principal aim of the study was the overall response rate. We observed a very promising 51% overall response rate. Most relevant side effects were diarrhea in about 20% of patients, asthenia and vomiting. Two recent studies have assessed the efficacy and tolerability of raltitrexed-OHP combination therapy. The results showed that the combination is active (ORR: 46-62%) and tolerable. Promising results have also been obtained in phase I studies with the OHP/CPT11 combination. All these data need to be confirmed in phase II-III clinical trials. In conclusion, combination therapy with CPT11 plus 5-FU/FA produces a 2-3 month survival advantage over 5-FU/FA alone and represents the new reference in the first-line chemotherapy of colorectal cancer. The association of 5-FU/FA and OHP improves response rates and progression-free survival. The increase in toxicity of these combinations is predictable and reversible and does not compromise quality of life. These important data suggest that there is now a limited role for single-agent first-line chemotherapy of metastatic colorectal cancer.

Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic↗