ORGAN THERAPEUTICS DURING EX-SITU DYNAMIC PRESERVATION. A LOOK INTO THE FUTURE

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Value of staging squamous cell carcinoma of the anal margin and canal using the sentinel lymph node procedure: an update of the series and a review of the literature.

BACKGROUND: Inguinal metastases in patients affected by anal cancer are an independent prognostic factor for local failure and overall mortality. Since 2001, sentinel lymph node biopsy was applied in these patients. This original study reports an update of personal and previous published series, which were compared with Literature to value the incidence of inguinal metastases T-stage related and the overall incidence of false negative inguinal metastases at sentinel node. METHODS: In all, 63 patients diagnosed with anal cancer submitted to inguinal sentinel node. Furthermore a research in the Pub Med database was performed to find papers regarding this technique. RESULTS: In our series, detection rate was 98.4%. Inguinal metastases were evidentiated in 13 patients (20.6%). Our median follow-up was 35 months. In our series, no false negative nodes were observed. CONCLUSION: Sentinel node technique in the detection of inguinal metastases in patients affected by anal cancer should be considered as a standard of care. It is indicated for all T stages in order to select patients to be submitted to inguinal radiotherapy, avoiding related morbidity in negative ones. An overall 3.7% rate of false negative must be considered acceptable

Hypothermic machine perfusion in liver transplantation: a randomized trial

BACKGROUNDTransplantation of livers obtained from donors after circulatory death is associated with an increased risk of nonanastomotic biliary strictures. Hypothermic oxygenated machine perfusion of livers may reduce the incidence of biliary complications, but data from prospective, controlled studies are limited.METHODSIn this multicenter, controlled trial, we randomly assigned patients who were undergoing transplantation of a liver obtained from a donor after circulatory death to receive that liver either after hypothermic oxygenated machine perfusion (machine-perfusion group) or after conventional static cold storage alone (control group). The primary end point was the incidence of nonanastomotic biliary strictures within 6 months after transplantation. Secondary end points included other graft-related and general complications.RESULTSA total of 160 patients were enrolled, of whom 78 received a machine-perfused liver and 78 received a liver after static cold storage only (4 patients did not receive a liver in this trial). Nonanastomotic biliary strictures occurred in 6% of the patients in the machine-perfusion group and in 18% of those in the control group (risk ratio, 0.36; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.14 to 0.94; P=0.03). Postreperfusion syndrome occurred in 12% of the recipients of a machine-perfused liver and in 27% of those in the control group (risk ratio, 0.43; 95% CI, 0.20 to 0.91). Early allograft dysfunction occurred in 26% of the machine-perfused livers, as compared with 40% of control livers (risk ratio, 0.61; 95% CI, 0.39 to 0.96). The cumulative number of treatments for nonanastomotic biliary strictures was lower by a factor of almost 4 after machine perfusion, as compared with control. The incidence of adverse events was similar in the two groups.CONCLUSIONSHypothermic oxygenated machine perfusion led to a lower risk of nonanastomotic biliary strictures following the transplantation of livers obtained from donors after circulatory death than conventional static cold storage.Cellular mechanisms in basic and clinical gastroenterology and hepatolog

Clinical response to radium-223 dichloride in men with metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer

© 2018 Elsevier Inc. Purpose/Objective: Radium-223 prolongs survival and decreases symptomatic skeletal events in men with metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer and is indicated in patients with painful bone metastases. However, pain responses are rarely reported and often asked about by patients. Further, patients and their physicians are concerned about a lack of pain response portending a poor treatment response and may be inclined to change systemic therapies before completing 6 cycles. We evaluated the likelihood and time course of pain response, potential predictors of response, and its prognostic value in patients receiving radium-223. Materials and Methods: We reviewed the charts of patients who received radium-223 in our department. All patients were planned for 6 cycles with a prescribed dose of 50–55 kBq/kg at each administration. Pain scores, subjective response to pain, analgesic use, treatment toxicities, and laboratory values were recorded at each visit. Symptomatic skeletal events and survival were also recorded. Results: 48 patients received at least one cycle of radium-223 and 27 (56%) received all 6 planned cycles. Median survival from first treatment was 16.0 months (95% CI 8.9 to 19.2 months). 33% experienced at least one symptomatic skeletal event during or after treatment. 62.5% of men reported a decrease in pain from pre-treatment baseline. Of men with improved pain, 96% experienced an improvement before the third cycle. Pain relief was not associated with a decrease in ALK-P or PSA or improved survival. Conclusions: Approximately two-thirds of patients who undergo treatment with radium-223 will experience an improvement in pain and, if it occurs, it will most likely occur within the first two cycles. Patients should be counseled about this timeline and, if pain improvement isn\u27t achieved, palliative radiation and oral analgesic readjustment should be considered. Pain response is not associated with survival and should not be used to evaluate the effectiveness of treatment