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Bone metastasis represents an increasing clinical problem in advanced gastric cancer (GC) as disease-related survival improves. In literature, few data on the natural history of bone disease in GC are available. Data on clinicopathology, skeletal outcomes, skeletal-related events (SREs), and bone-directed therapies for 208 deceased GC patients with evidence of bone metastasis were statistically analyzed. Median time to bone metastasis was 8 months (CI 95%, 6.125-9.875 months) considering all included patients. Median number of SREs/patient was one. Less than half of the patients (31%) experienced at least one and only 4 and 2% experienced at least two and three events, respectively. Median times to first and second SRE were 2 and 4 months, respectively. Median survival was 6 months after bone metastasis diagnosis and 3 months after first SRE. Median survival in patients who did not experience SREs was 5 months. Among patients who received zoledronic acid before the first SRE, the median time to appearance of first SRE was significantly prolonged compared to control (7 months vs 4 months for control; P: 0.0005). To our knowledge, this retrospective analysis is the largest multicenter study to demonstrate that bone metastases from GC are not so rare, are commonly aggressive and result in relatively early onset of SREs in the majority of patients. Indeed, our large study, which included 90 patients treated with ZOL, showed, for the first time in literature, a significant extension of time to first SRE and increase in the median survival time after diagnosis of bone metastasis. Taken together, these data may support the beneficial effects of ZOL in GC patients.

Cetuximab improves efficacy when added to chemotherapy for metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). Effective management of skin reactions from cetuximab improves quality of life (QoL), and treatment compliance in clinical trials. No data are available from real‐world settings. The ObservEr observational, multicenter, prospective study evaluated QoL, the incidence of skin reactions, and management of chemotherapy plus cetuximab in first‐line for mCRC. The primary endpoint was QoL measured with the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) and EORTC QLQ‐C30. Secondary endpoints were the incidence of skin and serious adverse events, median overall and progression‐free survival, tumor response, and resection rates. Between May 2011 and November 2012, 228 patients with KRASwt mCRC were enrolled at 28 Italian centers, 225 evaluable, median age 65 years. QoL did not change during treatment and was not affected by the choice of prophylactic or reactive skin management. The incidence of cetuximab‐specific grade ≥3 skin reactions was 14%, with no grade 4/5 events. Skin reactions correlated with survival (P = 0.016), and their incidence was influenced by chemotherapy regimen (oxaliplatin vs. irinotecan—Incidence rate ratio [IRR] 1.72, P < 0.0001) and gender (male vs. female—IRR 1.38, P = 0.0008). Compliance at first postbaseline evaluation was 97.75%. Median overall survival was 23.6 months, median progression‐free survival 8.3 months. Cetuximab plus chemotherapy did not compromise QoL in the routine clinical setting when patients receive close monitoring plus prophylactic or reactive management of skin reactions. We observed the same correlation between overall survival (OS) and skin reactions reported in controlled clinical trials, also in this setting. Cetuximab improves efficacy when added to chemotherapy for metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). Cetuximab plus chemotherapy did not compromise QoL in the routine clinical setting when patients receive close monitoring plus prophylactic or reactive management of skin reactions.

Knowledge regarding differences in care for psoriatic patients is limited. The aim of this study was to investigate factors influencing prescription of systemic treatments for patients with psoriasis with a special focus on socioeconomic factors. This was a non-interventional, cross-sectional study, conducted in 18 Italian University and/or hospital centers with psoriasis-specialized units. Questionnaires evaluating demographic and socioeconomic characteristics were administered to participants. Overall, 1880 consecutive patients affected by mild-to-severe psoriasis were recruited. Univariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses of systemic therapy prescription, with a special focus on biologics, accounting for the above mentioned characteristics were performed. Our analysis showed that all analyzed patients' characteristics were significantly associated with biological therapy compared to non-biological systemic one. Particularly, women were less likely to receive biologics than men (OR = 0.66; 95% CI, 0.57-0.77). Elderly patients ([greater than or equal to]65 years) and subjects with a BMI [greater than or equal to]30 had lower odds to receive biologics respect to adults ([greater than or equal to]35-64 years) (OR = 0.33; 95% CI, 0.25-0.40), and subjects with BMI[greater than or equal to]25<30 (OR = 0.64; 95% CI, 0.53-0.77), respectively. Northern and Southern patients were both less likely to receive biologics than Central patients (OR = 0.75; 95% CI, 0.63-0.89, and OR = 0.56; 95% CI,0.47-0.68, respectively). Lower economic profile and never reading books were both associated with decreased odds of receiving biological therapy. This study shows that sex, age, comorbidities, and socioeconomic characteristics influence the prescription of systemic treatments in psoriasis, highlighting that there are still unmet needs influencing the therapeutic decision-making process that have to be addressed.

Pseudoangiomatous stromal hyperplasia (PASH) is a benign mesenchymal proliferative lesion of the breast. In 2005, only 109 cases have been reported since its initial description in 1986 by Vuitch et al. when it presented in one patient as a palpable breast mass. We retrospectively reviewed data from 2020 to 2023 of patients diagnosed with PASH by surgical excision. Our 13 cases represent one of the most numerous reported from a single institution. All histologic specimens were examined by a single pathologist. All patients had breast masses on imaging or were clinically evident. Eleven of the patients (84.6%) were diagnosed by surgical excision, whilst only two (15.4%) were diagnosed by core needle biopsy. Imaging revealed no strongly distinctive features for PASH. The age of the patients ranged from 25 to 68 years. All but one of the women were premenopausal at the time of diagnosis. This study suggests that PASH is a lesion whose diagnosis is often incidental and the recommended treatment is more commonly surgical.

Bisphenols and phthalates affect androgen receptor-mediated signaling that directly regulates Kallikrein-Related serine Peptidase 3 (KLK3) secretion, indicating that environmental factors may play a role in KLK3 secretion. With the aim of obtaining preliminary data on whether KLK3 could serve as an early marker of environmental pollution effects, in 61 and 58 healthy women living in a high environmental impact (HEI) and low environmental impact (LEI) area, respectively, serum KLK3 levels at different phases of menstrual cycle were measured. KLK3 values resulted in always being higher in the HEI group with respect to the LEI group. These differences were particularly relevant in the ovulatory phase (cycle day 12°–13°) of the menstrual cycle. The differences in KLK3 values during the three phases of the menstrual cycle were significant in the LEI group differently from the HEI group. In addition, higher progesterone levels were observed in the LEI group with respect to the HEI group in the luteal phase, indicating an opposite trend of KLK3 and progesterone in this phase of the menstrual cycle. Although changes in KLK3 could also depend on other factors, these preliminary data could be an early indication of an expanding study of the role of biomarkers in assessing early environmental effects for female reproductive health.

Background Microbiome research has expanded rapidly, however, lack of standardized and validated protocols for microbiome sampling and DNA extraction has hindered the reproducibility and comparability of studies. The SUS-MIRRI.IT project aimed to prepare and validate Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for microbiome analysis across diverse ecosystems, including fermented foods, soils, waters, and more. To validate these protocols, 15 Italian research units (RUs) participated in an interlaboratory trial on 120 samples (liquid and solid fermented foods, waters, and soils). Metataxonomic sequencing was performed using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing to assess the reproducibility of the protocols. The interlaboratory trial involved distributing homogenized samples to participating RUs and evaluating performance both between and within RUs. This was done by comparing results obtained from DNA extraction and amplicon-based sequencing. Results The results demonstrated high reproducibility of the procedures suggested in the SOPs across different sample types, with no significant differences in microbial diversity or composition between biological replicates or research units. DNA recovery was generally consistent, with minor variations observed in solid samples. Conclusions This study underlines the importance of standardized protocols in microbiome research. The validated Standard Operating Procedures developed by the SUS-MIRRI.IT project demonstrate robustness and reproducibility across diverse ecosystems, providing a foundation for future microbiome studies. The adoption of these protocols will enhance data comparability and support large-scale meta-analyses in food systems microbiome research.

Initial evidence of CPX-351 activity in patients younger than 60 years emerged from a phase I trial [1]; however, subsequent pivotal phase III trial focused on older patients (≥60 years), where CPX-351 demonstrated superiority over conventional ‘7 + 3’ induction, in in secondary acute myeloid leukemia (sAML), including therapy-related AML (t-AML) and AML with myelodysplasia-related changes (AML-MRC), showing higher overall response rates (ORR), improved overall survival (OS) and increased haematopoetic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) rate [2]. Since CPX-351 is approved for all adult sAML, we conducted a multicentric retrospective study in patients <60. No differences in event-free survival (EFS) were observed according to clinical and laboratory parameters (Supplementary Table S10). [...]those transplanted with active disease had poor outcomes, with mOS of 9.6 months.In the landmark analysis, patients transplanted in first CR had not reached mOS, while no significant OS differences were observed by CK presence (Fig. 2C). The UK NCRI AML19 trial further compared CPX-351 with FLAG-Ida in younger adults with high-risk AML/MDS, showing no OS difference but improved RFS with CPX-351, particularly in patients with MDS-related gene mutations [12].

In 2006, at the age of 83 years, hepatic ultrasound (US) examination of the proband identified two hyperechoic nodules in the liver; contrast-enhanced MRI scan confirmed the US examination findings and a US-guided liver biopsy documented a well-differentiated hepatocellular carcinoma (fig 1A), as shown by antihepatocyte antibody stain (not shown here), in the absence of cirrhosis. [...]the ferroportin disease may progress if not properly treated, and complicate with liver cancer even without cirrhosis, in the presence of cocarcinogenic factors, such as occult HBV infection.