Prognostic Role of Pathological Complete Response in Early Stage Epithelial Solid Tumors

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy was originally designed to convert inoperable cancer. Nowadays, this concept has expanded since it can also offer the possibility to evaluate markers of response such as pathological complete response (pCR) with possible implications in long-term prognostic outcomes. A substantial body of literature tried to evaluate the ability of pCR to fulfill the conditions required to establish a preliminary endpoint, such as pCR, as a surrogate for the final endpoint, the overall survival (OS) but no systematic reviews have been performed yet. In this review we systematically analyzed the prognostic role of pCR in various cancers (breast, gastro-oesophageal, rectal, ovarian, bladder, lung) in which neoadjuvant treatment is a standard of care, evaluating articles published in the English language of phase III or phase II randomized controlled trials and meta-analyses. Since the continue development of immunotherapy in earlier stage, it has also been considered the impact of tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte on pCR

On-farm welfare assessment in dairy cattle and buffaloes: evaluation of some animal-based parameters

<p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 8.0px Verdana;">The aim of this study was to evaluate the repeatability of some animal related variables, which could be used in proto-<span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica;">&nbsp;</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 8.0px Verdana;">cols developed for assessing animal welfare at farm level. Recordings were performed in seven dairy farms (four for cat-<span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica;">&nbsp;</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 8.0px Verdana;">tle and three for buffaloes). The animals were observed on three occasions at three-week intervals. The variables col-<span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica;">&nbsp;</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 8.0px Verdana;">lected for each animal were the following: behaviour during milking (stepping and kicking), avoidance distance, lame-<span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica;">&nbsp;</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 8.0px Verdana;">ness and cleanliness. For each farm and each variable repeatability was computed using the Kendall coefficient of con-<span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica;">&nbsp;</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 8.0px Verdana;">cordance (W). In buffalo farms avoidance distance may be considered highly reliable (W > 0.64), whereas in dairy cat-<span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica;">&nbsp;</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 8.0px Verdana;">tle its reliability ranged from medium (W = 0.43 to 0.59) to high (W = 0.64). Behavioural recordings at milking showed<span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica;">&nbsp;</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 8.0px Verdana;">that the reliability of stepping was either medium or high for both buffaloes and cattle (W = 0.51 to 0.66 and W = 0.52<span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica;">&nbsp;</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 8.0px Verdana;">to 0.76 for buffaloes and cattle, respectively). Conversely, kicking was less reliable. In cattle farms the reliability for<span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica;">&nbsp;</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 8.0px Verdana;">cleanliness ranged from medium (W = 0.51) to high (W = 0.62 to 0.71), whereas, it was not reliable in the sole buffalo<span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica;">&nbsp;</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 8.0px Verdana;">farm where this variable was monitored. In cattle farms, the concordance for lameness score was high in two farms (W<span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica;">&nbsp;</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 8.0px Verdana;">= 0.62 and 0.66) and moderate in one farm (W = 0.43), whereas no animals displayed lameness in the fourth farm. In<span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica;">&nbsp;</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 8.0px Verdana;">all buffalo farms no animals showed lameness. For each species, the Kruskal-Wallis analysis of variance with one factor<span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica;">&nbsp;</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 8.0px Verdana;">(farm) was performed to evaluate the effect of farm on recorded variables. For cattle, avoidance distance (P<0.001),<span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica;">&nbsp;</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 8.0px Verdana;">stepping (P<0.001), cleanliness (P<0.001) and lameness (P<0.01) were affected by farm, whereas kicking was not sig-<span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica;">&nbsp;</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 8.0px Verdana;">nificantly different between farms. In buffaloes a significant effect of farm was observed only for avoidance distance<span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica;">&nbsp;</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 8.0px Verdana;">(P<0.01). The Mann-Whitney U test performed on data obtained from the farm where both species were present showed<span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica;">&nbsp;</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 8.0px Verdana;">that avoidance distance was lower in buffaloes than cattle (P<0.001). This variable is reliable, feasible and able to dis-<span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica;">&nbsp;</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 8.0px Verdana;">criminate among farms. Lameness and cleanliness scores were able to discriminate only cattle farms, whereas these two<span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica;">&nbsp;</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 8.0px Verdana;">parameters, albeit feasible, seem to have low significance for buffaloes. Although stepping during milking was reliable<span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica;">&nbsp;</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 8.0px Verdana;">and different among cattle farms, its use in on-farm assessment may be difficult because it is more time consuming, thus<span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica;">&nbsp;</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 8.0px Verdana;">less feasible.<span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica;">&nbsp;</span></p

The effect of rearing system on behavioural and immune responses of buffalo heifers

From November 2005 to October 2006 thirty-two buffalo heifers from the same commercial farm were used to evaluate the effect of rearing system on a range of behavioural and immune variables. Sixteen heifers were group-housed in indoor slatted floor pen (3.0 m2/animal) with an outdoor paddock (3.0 m2/animal) at ~5m above sea level (group IR). Sixteen others were kept at ~600m above sea level. They grazed a fenced Mediterranean maquis of ~40ha (group ER). At the end of the experimental period the animals were subjected to a novel object test. Each animal was exposed to a novel environment (a 6x6-m paddock), where in the middle a traffic cone was present. Avoidance distance at manger was evaluated by an assessor who walked slowly (1 step per second) toward each animal with one hand slightly forward until signs of withdrawal. Phytohaemagglutinin (PHA, 1mg/animal) was used to perform a skin test based on specific delayed type hypersensitivity. During the novel object test, IR animals touched more and devoted more time to the traffic cone than ER animals (P =0.003 and P=0.008, respectively). Avoidance distance at manger was lower in ER animals than IR (P=0.004). Skin thickness after PHA injection was higher in ER heifers than in IR (P=0.003). The results indicated that an extensive rearing system based on pasture seems to be a valid method to promote welfare and sustainability of buffalo heifer

The effect of rearing system on behavioural and immune responses of buffalo heifers.

From November 2005 to October 2006 thirty-two buffalo heifers from the same commercial farrn were used to evaluate the effect of rearing system on a range of behavioural and immune variables. Sixteen heifers were group-housed in indoor slatted floor pen (3.0 m2/animal) with an outdoor paddock (3.0 m2/animal) at ~5m above sea level (group IR). Sixteen others were kept at —600 m above sea level. They grazed a fenced Mediterranean maquis of ~40 ha (group ER). At the end of the experimental period the animals were subjected to a novel object test. Each animal was exposed to a novel environment (a 6X6-m paddock), where in the middle a traffic cone was present. Avoidance distance at manger was evaluated by an assessor who walked slowly (1 Step per second) toward each animal with one hand slightly forward until signs of withdrawal. Phytohaemagglutinin (PHA, 1 mg/animal) was used to perform a skin test based on specific delayed type hypersensitivity During the novel object test, IR animals touched more and devoted more time to the traffic cone than ER animals (P =0.003 and P=0.008, respectively). Avoidance distance at manger was lower in ER animals than IR (P=0.004). Skin thickness after PHA injection was higher in ER heifers than in IR (P=0.003). The results indicated that an extensive rearing system based on pasture seems to be a valid method to promote welfare and sustainability of buffalo heifer

Clinical Review on the Management of Breast Cancer Visceral Crisis

Visceral crisis is a life-threatening clinical condition requiring urgent treatment and accounts for 10–15% of new advanced breast cancer diagnoses, mainly hormone receptor-positive/human epidermal growth factor 2 negative. As its clinical definition is an open topic with nebulous criteria and much room for subjective interpretation, it poses a challenge for daily clinical practice. International guidelines recommend combined chemotherapy as first-line treatment for patients with visceral crisis, but with modest results and a very poor prognosis. Visceral crisis has always been a common exclusion criterion in breast cancer trials, and the available evidence mainly comes from limited retrospective studies which are not sufficient to draw solid conclusions. The outstanding efficacy of innovative drugs, such as CDK4/6 inhibitors, questions the role of chemotherapy in this setting. In the lack of clinical reviews, we aim to critically discuss the management of visceral crisis, advocating future treatment perspectives for this challenging condition