0000000000324133
AUTHOR
Giulio Rossi
BRAF as a positive predictive biomarker: Focus on lung cancer and melanoma patients
In the era of personalized medicine, BRAF mutational assessment is mandatory in advanced-stage melanoma and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. The identification of actionable mutations is crucial for the adequate management of these patients. To date various drugs have been implemented in clinical practice. Similarly, various methods may be adopted for the identification of BRAF mutations. Here, we briefly review the current literature on BRAF in melanoma and NSCLC, focusing attention in particular on the different methods and drugs adopted in these patients. In addition, an overview of the real-world practice in different Italian laboratories with high expertise in molecular pre…
Differences among young adults, adults and elderly chronic myeloid leukemia patients
Abstract BACKGROUND: The incidence of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) increases with age, but it is unclear how the characteristics of the disease vary with age. In children, where CML is very rare, it presents with more aggressive features, including huge splenomegaly, higher cell count and higher blast cell percentage. PATIENTS AND METHODS: To investigate if after childhood the disease maintains or loses these characteristics of aggressiveness, we analyzed 2784 adult patients, at least 18 years old, registered by GIMEMA CML WP over a 40-year period. RESULTS: Young adults (YAs: 18-29 years old) significantly differed from adults (30-59 years old) and elderly patients (at least 60 years old)…
The molecular profiling of solid tumors by liquid biopsy: a position paper of the AIOM–SIAPEC-IAP–SIBioC–SIC–SIF Italian Scientific Societies
The term liquid biopsy (LB) refers to the use of various biological fluids as a surrogate for neoplastic tissue to achieve information for diagnostic, prognostic and predictive purposes. In the current clinical practice, LB is used for the identification of driver mutations in circulating tumor DNA derived from both tumor tissue and circulating neoplastic cells. As suggested by a growing body of evidence, however, there are several clinical settings where biological samples other than tissue could be used in the routine practice to identify potentially predictive biomarkers of either response or resistance to targeted treatments. New applications are emerging as useful clinical tools, and o…