Carcinoid Syndrome. Preclinical Models and Future Therapeutic Strategies

Carcinoid syndrome represents a debilitating paraneoplastic disease, caused by the se- cretion of several substances, occurring in about 10–40% of patients with well-differentiated neu- roendocrine tumors (NETs). The main signs and symptoms associated with carcinoid syndrome are flushing, diarrhea, hypotension, tachycardia, bronchoconstriction, venous telangiectasia, dyspnea and fibrotic complications (mesenteric and retroperitoneal fibrosis, and carcinoid heart disease). Although there are several drugs available for the treatment of carcinoid syndrome, the lack of therapeutic response, poor tolerance or resistance to drugs are often reported. Preclinical models are indispensable tools for investigating the pathogenesis, mechanisms for tumor progression and new therapeutic approaches for cancer. This paper provides a state-of-the-art overview of in vitro and in vivo models in NETs with carcinoid syndrome, highlighting the future developments and therapeutic approaches in this field

The "NOMINAL" trial: Clinical efficacy, cosmetic acceptability, and local tolerability of topical 5% minoxidil lotion without propylene glycol: A 6-month, multicentre, real-life, prospective, assessor-blinded study in 196 subjects with hair loss.

Background and Trial Objectives: A new propylene glycol (PG)-free 5% minoxidil (Mnx) (PG-Free-Mnx) lotion has been recently commercialized. Clinical efficacy and local tolerability have been, so far, documented in a limited number of patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical efficacy, cosmetic acceptability, and local tolerability of 6-month application of this new PG-Free Mnx lotion in a real-life situation. Materials and Methods: The NOMINAL (NO-PG MINoxidil reAL life study) trial was performed in 22 out-patients Italian dermatology clinics. A total of 196 subjects of both sexes with a diagnosis of androgenic alopecia (AGA) and female androgenic alopecia (FAGA) were enrolled in the trial, after their written informed consent. PG-Free-Mnx lotion was applied 1 ml twice daily for 6 months. Clinical efficacy was evaluated in an open fashion in all the enrolled subjects with a 5-grade scale score (from-2: severe worsening, to +2: very good improvement in comparison with baseline condition). In a subgroup of subjects (n=60) an assessor-blinded clinical efficacy evaluation has been also performed using high definition standardized and coded scalp global pictures at baseline, and after 6 months by an assessor unaware of the temporal sequence using a 3-grade score (from 0: no improvement to 3: very high improvement). Cosmetic acceptability evaluation was assessed using a 7-item questionnaire using a 10-point scale score, with score 1 meaning not at all and score 10 meaning the worst possible condition. Cosmetic acceptability and clinical efficacy were evaluated after 12 and 24 weeks of treatment. Global tolerability, assessed at week 24, was evaluated with a 4-grade scale score (from -1: very low tolerability to +2: very good tolerability). Results: All but seven (3.6%) subjects concluded the study. Clinical efficacy scores (open evaluation) were 0.8±0.7 and 1.0±0.7 at week 12 and 24, respectively. Good or very good clinical response (score +1 or +2) at week 12 and week 24 was observed in 64% and 74% respectively of the subjects with a similar response in women (75%) and men (73%). Baseline severity of AGA/FAGA was inversely correlated with the clinical response with a better outcome in subjects with AGA type II in comparison with subjects with types III/IV AGA. The clinical efficacy was confirmed by the assessor-blinded evaluation of the subgroup of 60 subjects' pictures at baseline (clinical score at baseline: 0.2±0.4 vs. 1.8±0.7 after 6 months; p=0.0001; absolute mean difference: 1.6; 95% CI: 1.1 to 2.0). Cosmetic acceptability score mean values were always 7) burning, itching or redness sensations. Conclusions: This new PG-free lotion shows, in real-life conditions, a very good cosmetic acceptability and tolerability profile. Clinical efficacy, evaluated both in open and assessor-blinded fashions, was also documented, and it was in line with the available data of traditional Mnx formulations with propylene glycol

Epidemiological analysis to identify predictors of X-linked hypophosphatemia (XLH) diagnosis in an Italian pediatric population: the EPIX project

Purpose: X-linked hypophosphatemia (XLH) is a rare multi-systemic disease characterized by low plasma phosphate levels. The aim of this study was to investigate the annual XLH prevalence and internally evaluate predictive algorithms' application performance for the early diagnosis of XLH. Methods: The PediaNet database, containing data on more than 400,000 children aged up to 14 years, was used to identify a cohort of XLH patients, which were matched with up to 10 controls by date of birth and gender. The annual prevalence of XLH cases per 100,000 patients registered in PediaNet database was estimated. To identify possible predictors associated with XLH diagnosis, a logistic regression model and two machine learning algorithms were applied. Predictive analyses were separately carried out including patients with at least 1 or 2 years of database history in PediaNet. Results: Among 431,021 patients registered in the PediaNet database between 2007-2020, a total of 12 cases were identified with a mean annual prevalence of 1.78 cases per 100,000 patients registered in PediaNet database. Overall, 8 cases and 60 matched controls were included in the analysis. The random forest algorithm achieved the highest area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) value both in the one-year prior ID (AUC = 0.99, 95% CI = 0.99-1.00) and the two-year prior ID (AUC = 1.00, 95% CI = 1.00-1.00) analysis. Overall, the XLH predictors selected by the three predictive methods were: the number of vitamin D prescriptions, the number of recorded diagnoses of acute respiratory infections, the number of prescriptions of antihistamine for systemic use, the number of prescriptions of X-ray of the lower limbs and pelvis and the number of allergology visits. Conclusion: Findings showed that data-driven machine learning models may play a prominent role for the prediction of the diagnosis of rare diseases such as XLH

BRAF-AXL-PD-L1 Signaling Axis as a Possible Biological Marker for RAI Treatment in the Thyroid Cancer ATA Intermediate Risk Category

The use of radioiodine therapy (RIT) is debated in intermediate-risk differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) patients. The understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of DTC can be useful to refine patient selection for RIT. We analyzed the mutational status of BRAF, RAS, TERT, PIK3 and RET, and the expression of PD-L1 (as a CPS score), the NIS and AXL genes and the tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL, as the CD4/CD8 ratio), in the tumor tissue in a cohort of forty-six ATA intermediate-risk patients, homogeneously treated with surgery and RIT. We found a significant correlation between BRAF mutations and a less than excellent (LER, according to 2015 ATA classification) response to RIT treatment (p = 0.001), higher expression of the AXL gene (p = 0.007), lower expression of NIS (p = 0.045) and higher expression of PD-L1 (p = 0.004). Moreover, the LER patient group had a significantly higher level of AXL (p = 0.0003), a lower level of NIS (p = 0.0004) and a higher PD-L1 level (p = 0.0001) in comparison to patients having an excellent response to RIT. We also found a significant direct correlation between the AXL level and PD-L1 expression (p p = 0.0009 and p = 0.028, respectively). These data suggest that BRAF mutations and AXL expression are involved in LER among DTC patients and in the higher expression of PD-L1 and CD8, becoming new possible biomarkers to personalize RIT in the ATA intermediate-risk group, as well as the use of higher radioiodine activity or other possible therapies