The multiplicity of Argonaute complexes in mammalian cells
Argonautes (AGOs) are a highly conserved family of proteins found in most Eukaryotes, and involved in mechanisms of gene regulation, both at the transcriptional and post-transcriptional level. Among other functions, AGO proteins associate with microRNAs to mediate the post-transcriptional repression of protein-coding genes. In this process, AGOs associate with members of the trinucleotide repeat containing 6 protein (TNRC6) protein family to form the core of the RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC), the effector machinery that mediates microRNA function. However, the description of the exact composition of the RISC has been a challenging task due to the fact the AGO's interactome is dynamic…
A New Sampling Method for Spleen Stiffness Measurement Based on Quantitative Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse Elastography for Noninvasive Assessment of Esophageal Varices in Newly Diagnosed HCV-Related Cirrhosis
In our study, we evaluated the feasibility of a new sampling method for splenic stiffness (SS) measurement by Quantitative Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse Elastography (Virtual Touch Tissue Quantification (VTTQ)).We measured SS in 54 patients with HCV-related cirrhosis of whom 28 with esophageal varices (EV), 27 with Chronic Hepatitis C (CHC) F1–F3, and 63 healthy controls. VTTQ-SS was significantly higher among cirrhotic patients with EV (3.37 m/s) in comparison with controls (2.19 m/s,P<0.001), CHC patients (2.37 m/s,P<0.001), and cirrhotic patients without EV (2.7 m/s,P<0.001). Moreover, VTTQ-SS was significantly higher among cirrhotic patients without EV in comparison with bot…
Colorectal Cancer in Elderly Patients: From Best Supportive Care to Cure
Colorectal cancer is one of the major causes of cancer mortality in the elderly population (median age at diagnosis of 71 years) in Western Countries. Moreover patients with metastatic disease are often elderly with significant co- morbidities. Unfortunately, elderly patients are often untreated and under-represented in clinical trials, even if most clinical trials that have included this setting of population have shown similar survival rates and toxicities to younger patients. Age itself should not be considered for candidacy to chemotherapy but it should be taken in consideration the great heterogeneity of co-morbidities present in the elderly population. Therefore, the best treatment st…
Tumor infiltrating T lymphocytes expressing FoxP3, CCR7 or PD-1 predict the outcome of prostate cancer patients subjected to salvage radiotherapy after biochemical relapse
Tumor immunologic microenvironment is strongly involved in tumor progression and the presence of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) with different phenotypes has been demonstrated to be of prognostic relevance in different malignancies. We investigated whether TIL infiltration of tumor tissues could also predict the outcome of prostate cancer patients. To this end, we carried out a retrospective analysis correlating the outcome of locally advanced prostate cancer patients undergone salvage radiotherapy upon relapse after radical surgery with the infiltration by different TIL populations. Twenty-two patients with resectable prostate cancer, with a mean age of 67 (+/−3.93) years, who receiv…
Second line therapy with axitinib after only prior sunitinib in metastatic renal cell cancer: Italian multicenter real world SAX study final results
Abstract Background This multi-institutional retrospective real life study was conducted in 22 Italian Oncology Centers and evaluated the role of Axitinib in second line treatment in not selected mRCC patients. Methods 148 mRCC patients were evaluated. According to Heng score 15.5%, 60.1% and 24.4% of patients were at poor risk, intermediate and favorable risk, respectively. Results PFS, OS, DCR and ORR were 7.14 months, 15.5 months, 70.6% and 16.6%, respectively. The duration of prior sunitinib treatment correlated with a longer significant mPFS, 8.8 vs 6.3 months, respectively. Axitinib therapy was safe, without grade 4 adverse events. The most frequent toxicities of all grades were: fati…