What is the impact of local control in Ewing sarcoma : analysis of the first Brazilian collaborative study group – EWING1

Background: Relapse in localized Ewing sarcoma patients has been a matter of concern regarding poor prognosis. Therefore, we investigated the impact of local control modality (surgery, surgery plus radiotherapy, and radiotherapy) on clinical outcomes such as survival and recurrence in patients with non-metastatic Ewing sarcoma treated on the first Brazilian Collaborative Group Trial of the Ewing Family of Tumors (EWING1). Methods: Seventy-three patients with localized Ewing sarcoma of bone aged < 30 years were included. The treating physicians defined the modality of local control based on the recommendations of the coordinating center and the patient and tumor characteristics. Possible associations of local control modality with local failure (LF), disease-free survival (DFS), event-free survival (EFS), overall survival (OS), and clinical characteristics were analyzed. Results: Mean patient age was 12.8 years (range, 2 to 25 years) and median follow-up time was 4.5 years (range, 2. 3 to 6.7 years). Forty-seven patients underwent surgery, 13 received radiotherapy, and 13 received both. The 5-year EFS, OS, and DFS for all patients was 62.1%, 63.3%, and 73.1%, respectively. The 5-year cumulative incidence (CI) of LF was 7.6% for surgery, 11.1% for radiotherapy, and 0% for postoperative radiotherapy (PORT) (p = 0.61). The 5-year EFS was 71.7% for surgery, 30.8% for radiotherapy, and 64.1% for PORT (p = 0.009). Conclusions: There was a significant effect of local control modality on EFS and OS in the study. Surgery and PORT modalities yielded very close results. The group treated with radiotherapy alone had considerably worse outcomes. This may be confounded by greater risk factors in these patients. There was no significant effect of local control modality on the CI of LF and DFS

What is the impact of local control in Ewing sarcoma: analysis of the first Brazilian collaborative study group-EWING1

Background: Relapse in localized Ewing sarcoma patients has been a matter of concern regarding poor prognosis. Therefore, we investigated the impact of local control modality (surgery, surgery plus radiotherapy, and radiotherapy) on clinical outcomes such as survival and recurrence in patients with non-metastatic Ewing sarcoma treated on the first Brazilian Collaborative Group Trial of the Ewing Family of Tumors (EWING1). Methods: Seventy-three patients with localized Ewing sarcoma of bone aged < 30 years were included. The treating physicians defined the modality of local control based on the recommendations of the coordinating center and the patient and tumor characteristics. Possible associations of local control modality with local failure (LF), disease-free survival (DFS), event-free survival (EFS), overall survival (OS), and clinical characteristics were analyzed. Results: Mean patient age was 12.8 years (range, 2 to 25 years) and median follow-up time was 4.5 years (range, 2. 3 to 6.7 years). Forty-seven patients underwent surgery, 13 received radiotherapy, and 13 received both. The 5-year EFS, OS, and DFS for all patients was 62.1%, 63.3%, and 73.1%, respectively. The 5-year cumulative incidence (CI) of LF was 7.6% for surgery, 11.1% for radiotherapy, and 0% for postoperative radiotherapy (PORT) (p = 0.61). The 5-year EFS was 71.7% for surgery, 30.8% for radiotherapy, and 64.1% for PORT (p = 0.009). Conclusions: There was a significant effect of local control modality on EFS and OS in the study. Surgery and PORT modalities yielded very close results. The group treated with radiotherapy alone had considerably worse outcomes. This may be confounded by greater risk factors in these patients. There was no significant effect of local control modality on the CI of LF and DFS.Children's Cancer InstituteRafael Accordi Foundation, Porto Alegre, RS, BrazilHCPA, Serv Orthoped & Traumatol, Rua Ramiro Barcelos 2350, BR-90035903 Porto Alegre, RS, BrazilUniv Fed Rio Grande do Sul, HCPA, Dept Pediat, Porto Alegre, RS, BrazilPontificia Univ Catolica Rio Grande Sul PUCRS, Dept Pediat, Hosp Sao Lucas, Porto Alegre, RS, BrazilHCPA, Serv Orthoped & Traumatol, Porto Alegre, RS, BrazilUniv Fed Sao Paulo UNIFESP, Support Grp Children & Adolescents Canc GRAACC, Sao Paulo, SP, BrazilHosp Canc Infantojuvenil, Fundacao Pio 12, Barretos, SP, BrazilCtr Hosp Pereira Rossell, Montevideo, UruguayHosp AC Camargo Canc Ctr, Orthoped Serv, Sao Paulo, SP, BrazilSanta Casa Misericordia Porto Alegre, Serv Orthoped & Traumatol, Porto Alegre, RS, BrazilUniv Sao Paulo, Orthoped Trauma Inst, Hosp Clin Sao Paulo, Sch Med, Sao Paulo, SP, BrazilSanta Casa Misericordia Sao Paulo HSCSP, Dept Orthoped & Traumatol, Sao Paulo, SP, BrazilPontificia Univ Catolica Rio Grande Sul PUCRS, Hosp Sao Lucas, Serv Orthoped & Traumatol, Porto Alegre, RS, BrazilUniv Estadual Paulista UNESP, Hosp Clin Botucatu, Sch Med, Botucatu, SP, BrazilInst Canc Infantil, Porto Alegre, RS, BrazilUniv Fed Sao Paulo UNIFESP, Support Grp Children & Adolescents Canc GRAACC, Sao Paulo, SP, BrazilChildren's Cancer InstituteRafael Accordi Foundation, Porto Alegre, RS, BrazilWeb of Scienc

Prevalence of interstitial pneumonia suggestive of COVID-19 at 18F-FDG PET/CT in oncological asymptomatic patients in a high prevalence country during pandemic period: a national multi-centric retrospective study

Purpose: To assess the presence and pattern of incidental interstitial lung alterations suspicious of COVID-19 on fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) ([18F]FDG PET/CT) in asymptomatic oncological patients during the period of active COVID-19 in a country with high prevalence of the virus. Methods: This is a multi-center retrospective observational study involving 59 Italian centers. We retrospectively reviewed the prevalence of interstitial pneumonia detected during the COVID period (between March 16 and 27, 2020) and compared to a pre-COVID period (January\u2013February 2020) and a control time (in 2019). The diagnosis of interstitial pneumonia was done considering lung alterations of CT of PET. Results: Overall, [18F]FDG PET/CT was performed on 4008 patients in the COVID period, 19,267 in the pre-COVID period, and 5513 in the control period. The rate of interstitial pneumonia suspicious for COVID-19 was significantly higher during the COVID period (7.1%) compared with that found in the pre-COVID (5.35%) and control periods (5.15%) (p&nbsp;&lt; 0.001). Instead, no significant difference among pre-COVID and control periods was present. The prevalence of interstitial pneumonia detected at PET/CT was directly associated with geographic virus diffusion, with the higher rate in Northern Italy. Among 284 interstitial pneumonia detected during COVID period, 169 (59%) were FDG-avid (average SUVmax of 4.1). Conclusions: A significant increase of interstitial pneumonia incidentally detected with [18F]FDG PET/CT has been demonstrated during the COVID-19 pandemic. A majority of interstitial pneumonia were FDG-avid. Our results underlined the importance of paying attention to incidental CT findings of pneumonia detected at PET/CT, and these reports might help to recognize early COVID-19 cases guiding the subsequent management

BDNF/TrkB Signaling as a Potential Novel Target in Pediatric Brain Tumors: Anticancer Activity of Selective TrkB Inhibition in Medulloblastoma Cells

Medulloblastoma (MB) is the most common malignant pediatric brain tumor. Deregulation of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)/tropomyosin-related kinase B (TrkB) signaling has been associated with increased proliferative capabilities, invasiveness, and chemoresistance in several types of cancer. However, the relevance of this pathway in MB remains unknown. Here, we show that the selective TrkB inhibitor N-[2-[[(hexahydro-2-oxo-1H-azepin-3-yl)amino]carbonyl]phenyl]-benzo[b]thiophene-2-carboxamide (ANA-12) markedly reduced the viability and survival of human cell lines representative of different MB molecular subgroups. These findings provide the first evidence supporting further investigation of TrkB inhibition as a potential novel strategy for MB treatment

L'orientamento delle matricole tra informazione e riflessione

Il passaggio dalla scuola superiore all\u2019universit\ue0, oltre che occasione di apertura a nuove possibilit\ue0, pu\uf2 essere fonte di preoccupazione, soprattutto oggi che, in conseguenza di un quindicennio di riforme, il contesto universitario si presenta quanto mai incerto e mutevole. Per questo motivo nell\u2019anno accademico 2007-2008, nell\u2019ambito dell\u2019orientamento delle matricole del Corso di laurea in formatore nelle organizzazioni, si \ue8 intrecciata l\u2019abituale proposta informativa con dei lavori di gruppo in cui gli studenti sono stati chiamati a confrontarsi sui fattori che li hanno condotti alla scelta universitaria, sulle loro aspettative nei confronti della struttura e sulle loro aspirazioni, con l\u2019intento di promuovere in loro una progressiva consapevolezza critica di s\ue9 nel contesto. Ne \ue8 sortito un percorso di cui il presente saggio costituisce un tentativo di sistematizzazione, al cui interno viene proposta, senza alcuna pretesa di esaustivit\ue0 interpretativa, una riflessione che cerca di integrare varie prospettive \u2013 diagnostico-attitudinale, caratterologico-affettiva, clinico-dinamica e maturativo-personale \u2013 e di evidenziare come per rivelarsi efficace sia necessario che l\u2019orientamento si configuri come autenticamente esistenziale, investendo la persona nella globalit\ue0 del suo porsi in rapporto con se stessa e con la comunit\ue0 di cui \ue8 parte