Biomedical subjects

F Cavaliere

Publications and source records attributed to F Cavaliere.

131 records · Page 8Linked to original sources

PubMedDate not supplied

Flow cytometric analysis of DNA content and cell kinetics in colorectal carcinoma.

DNA ploidy and cell proliferation were studied by means of flow cytometry in 98 patients with primary colorectal adenocarcinoma. Multiple samples of tumour burden were pooled and freshly dissociated immediately after surgery for FACS analysis. The relationships between ploidy, proliferative activity, evaluated in terms of S-phase percentages (%S), and some clinico-pathological variables were analyzed. 87 of the 98 tumors yielded evaluable DNA histograms: 32 were diploid (37%) and 55 were aneuploid (63%; median DNA index = 1.6). Multiple aneuploid cell populations were found in 15 tumors (17%). The % S was estimated by means of a mathematical model. Aneuploid tumors showed % S values significantly higher than diploid ones (p < 0.0001). Differences in the distribution of DNA aneuploidy were observed in relation to Dukes' stage and tumor site, left colon, rectum and stage D tumors being more frequently aneuploid. No significant differences in proliferative activity were observed in relation to most of the clinical variables, except for higher % S values observed in tumors of right colon compared to those of left colon and rectum.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

TAG-72 expression and its role in the biological evaluation of human colorectal cancer.

Immunohistochemical studies showed that TAG-72 is expressed in more than 80% of colorectal carcinomas, but is rarely expressed in normal epithelium and benign diseases. TAG-72 can also be found in the body fluids of patients with adenocarcinomas, and its direct measurement can be used in conjunction with immunocytochemical analysis to help in discriminating benign from malignant effusions. The evaluation of TAG-72 in serum of colorectal carcinoma patients showed a sensitivity of approximately 40%, comparable to that of the widely used CEA. TAG-72 serum levels correlate with the stage of disease, suggesting its utility in discriminating between early-stage versus late-stage colon carcinoma. Longitudinal studies demonstrated that TAG-72 serum levels may be used as a predictive marker of recurrences. Moreover, the simultaneous measurement of TAG-72 and CEA serum markers improves the monitoring of recurrent disease. Therefore, these data suggest that TAG-72 is a well suitable marker for colorectal cancer.

Antigens, Neoplasm↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Clinical utility of CA 72-4 serum marker in the staging and immediate post-surgical management of gastric cancer patients.

CA 72-4 is a high molecular weight, pancarcinoma human tumor mucin which may play an important role in the identification (i.e., staging) and clinical management of patients with gastric carcinoma. In the present study of 242 patients with primary or recurrent gastric cancer, a higher percentage of these patients had measurable serum CA 72-4 levels when compared with either CA 19.9 or CEA. Moreover, the presence of positive serum CA 72-4 levels correlated with the presence of lymph node involvement and with the identification of patients with a poor prognosis due to the presence of an advanced stage of gastric cancer. Post-operative monitoring of serum CA 72-4 revealed that the disappearance of CA 72-4 often indicated curative surgery which correlated with a longer disease-free interval. Additional clinical studies are needed to better evaluate the role of CA 72-4 as a serum marker for human gastric carcinoma. Concomitant studies should also focus on what role CA 72-4 may play in the initiation and/or progression of the gastric carcinoma phenotype.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Evaluation of psychological characteristics in the preoperative phase of patients with mental retardation].

OBJECTIVES: To make easier the psychological evaluation of patients affected by Mental Retardation and scheduled for general anesthesia. DESIGN: A form prepared by the Psychological Service of the IRCCS "Oasi Maria SS" in collaboration with the Service of Anesthesia was evaluated prospectively. The form is addressed to relatives and psychologists; the interviewed person is firstly asked for a short description of patient's personality and for any suggestion useful to patient's management; secondly it is requested to assign a score from 1 (never present) to 5 (always present) to 44 items concerning adaptive capacities (divided into body scheme, spoken language, receptive language, mimic-gestural language, temporal orientation, memory), emotional and social fields (including sensibility, dependence, and social behaviors), problematic and stereotyped behaviors. SETTING: A medical and psychological Institute aimed at the study of Mental Retardation. PATIENTS: Twenty-five patients affected by Mental Retardation and scheduled for general and dental surgery. RESULTS: The form supplied a great deal of information and suggestions for patient management. Subjects that did not cooperative with the anesthetist presented lower scores about the ability to use mimic-gestural language (p < 0.05) and higher scores about the presence of anxiety or fear caused by the sight of syringes or blood (p < 0.05) and about behaviors of flight, isolation, or aggression caused by fear (p < 0.05). By contrast, patients presenting mild or moderate degrees of Mental Retardation differentiated from patients with serious degree of Mental Retardation about body scheme (p < 0.001), spoken language (p < 0.05), receptive language (p < 0.001), temporal orientation (p < 0.001) and memory (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The form was very useful to plan patient management. These data suggest that the lack of cooperation by some patients affected by Mental Retardation is related to fear, anxiety, and incapacity to communicate rather than to the degree of Mental Retardation.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

The role of multiploidy as unfavorable prognostic variable in colorectal cancer.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the prognostic value of DNA multiploidy in a prospective study on frozen surgical tissue samples from primary colorectal cancer. SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA: Survival data from eleven prospective studies collectively comprising about thirteen hundred patients showed that aneuploidy correlated with a 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) significantly poorer than diploidy, and showed the limited prognostic value of results from retrospective studies employing paraffin-embedded material. METHODS: Multiple tumor samples of fresh/frozen surgical tissues from 120 colorectal cancer patients who had undergone radical surgery were taken for flow cytometric analysis of DNA content, and proliferative activity, shown as percentage of cells in S-phase (%S). The minimum follow-up of this series was 30 months. Univariate and multivariate analyses determined the independent significance of both clinical and biological variable on DFS. RESULTS: Values of %S equal to or higher than 17.3 correlated with a 5-year DFS poorer than values lower than 17.3 (44.5% vs 85.2% respectively; p = .03), even if only in patients younger than 64. The subgroup with multiploid tumors showed a significantly poorer 5-year DFS (44.5% vs. 62.6% in the non multiploid patients; p = .02). Subgrouping the Dukes'B stage alone by multiploidy, the difference in DFS was much more evident (31.2% vs. 68% respectively; p = .0004) and multivariate analysis showed multiploidy as the only significant variable. Above all, adjuvant therapy did not absolutely modify the unfavorable outcome of the multiploid Dukes'B patients. CONCLUSIONS: The prospective evaluation of ploidy allowed us to identify a very high-risk subgroup of patients with multiploid tumors. This biological characterization was easy to demonstrate and, above all in node-negative patients, reliable and very effective in terms of prognosis. The presence of multiploidy should result in a more aggressive therapeutic approach in the adjuvant setting.

Aneuploidy↗