Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

L Cataliotti

Publications and source records attributed to L Cataliotti.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1989

Biliary tract complications in orthotopic liver transplantation: an experimental study in the pig.

The results of 56 consecutive orthotopic liver transplants in the pig were reviewed to determine the incidence of primary biliary tract complications. There were 8 biliary tract complications in 56 grafts (14.2%) directly responsible for death. End-to-end choledochocholedochostomy (ee-CC) was the most frequently used technique (40 cases) with 4 technical failures (10.0%). Choledochojejunostomy with a Roux-en-Y jejunal loop (RYCJ) was used in 9 cases with 2 technical failures (22.2%). Side-to-side choledochocholedochostomy (ss-CC) was used in 7 cases with 2 technical failures (28.5%). Biliary leak and stenosis were the most common complications. End-to-end choledochocholedocostomy appears to be the most suitable and easy biliary reconstruction in the pig but possible gross disparity in the sizes of the donor and recipient ducts may represent and adverse factor.

Anastomosis, Roux-en-Y↗
PubMed1988

Prognostic significance of estrogen receptor determination in primary breast cancer.

The authors report on 767 consecutive primary Stage I-II breast cancer cases followed-up from 3 to 8 years. The estrogen receptor (ER) content was determined in all cases and did not influence the treatment choice. A correlation was attempted between ER and menstrual or pathological nodal status (N) or the 5-year disease-free survival (DFS). ER was correlated with menopausal status ER+ cases being more frequent in postmenopausal patients, whereas no correlation was observed between ER and nodal status. In absence of nodal involvement (N-) the prognosis was not influenced by the ER status. A significantly better DFS was evident for ER+ respect to ER- patients in the N+ series but such a correlation is questionable as the adjuvant treatment (hormone or chemotherapy) given to such patients may have influenced the DFS according to the ER status. According to the present study, ER determination should not be used as a discriminant in the performance of adjuvant postoperative treatment based on a prognostic judgment.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Clinical utility of the combined use of plurime tumor markers in human breast cancer.

Many biological substances are commonly used as markers for malignant neoplasms, but no single marker with high specificity and sensitivity has been found for cancer to date. In this study we evaluated simultaneously the serum levels of five biomarkers of malignancy: phosphohexose-isomerase (PHI), creatine kinase isoenzyme BB (CK-BB), alpha 1-acid glycoprotein (AAG), beta 2-microglobulin (BMG), and ferritin. In 89 female patients with breast lesions, we identified 30 benign lesions, 32 primary breast cancers, and 27 metastatic breast cancers (pulmonary and/or bone metastases). Each marker was assayed individually and in a combination and was compared with other markers. The results revealed that in benign lesions only 7% had PHI values higher than our cut-off limit value, while 3% had elevated values of AAG, BMG, and ferritin. In primary breast cancer we discovered pathological values of CK-BB and AAG in 71%, of PHI in 69%, of BMG in 50%, and of ferritin in 47%. Metastatic disease was associated with elevated values in 88% of CK-BB, in 70% of PHI and AAG, and in only 55% of BMG and ferritin. Combined pathological values for primary and metastatic breast cancer were 79% for CK-BB, 71% for AAG, 70% for PHI, and only 55% for BMG and ferritin. These data were assessed by the Student t test, which revealed for each marker a significant capacity (P less than 0.01) to discriminate between benign lesions and neoplastic diseases. The same capacity to distinguish between primary and metastatic cancer was obtained by the simultaneous use of three markers (CK-BB, PHI, and AAG).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adenofibroma↗
PubMed1987

Polyamine modification in human breast tumors after short treatment with tamoxifen.

The authors measured estrogen receptors, and polyamine (putrescine, spermidine and spermine) in breast tumors from patients (n = 23) who had received tamoxifen for a few days (5-10) before surgery. Women undergoing mastectomy without any preoperatory treatment were selected as the control group (n = 44). As already reported about in vitro experiments, the treatment resulted in a significant lowering of the spermidine to spermine ratio. Such a modification was larger in the ER positive tumors then in the ER negative ones and it seems to be related to the regression process of the drug-responsive tumors. On the basis of the experimental data the authors suggest the development of a in vivo tamoxifen-sensitivity test.

Aged↗
PubMed1987

Nonpalpable lesions detected with mammography: review of 512 consecutive cases.

The authors reviewed 512 consecutive cases in which biopsies were performed on nonpalpable lesions of the breast detected with mammography from 1970 to 1985. The positive predictive value (PPV) of different radiologic patterns was determined. Biopsy is advised in the presence of patterns such as parenchymal distortion, opacities with undefined borders, strongly suspect microcalcifications (rodlike or branching morphologic features, high spatial density), and stellate opacities, which yielded higher PPVs (0.11, 0.35, 0.56, and 0.75, respectively). The average detection rate of preclinical cancer was 0.7 per 1,000; wide variations were recorded during different periods in the study (0.2 per 1,000 and 1.3 per 1,000 in the first 4 years and the last 4 years of the study, respectively), for the different age groups considered (0.6 per 1,000 and 1.7 per 1,000 for the 30-39-year and over-59-year age groups, respectively), and for different reporting radiologists (0.5-1.9 per 1,000). The ratio of benign to malignant biopsy findings was 2.4:1 for the whole series, with wide variations encountered relative to the variables mentioned above.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

New trends in the surgical treatment of primary breast cancer in the Florence District: 1979-1985.

The authors report on a consecutive series of 1979 TIS-T1A-T2A-T3A breast cancer cases surgically treated from 1979 to 1985. The study investigates the impact of recent reports on conservative surgery and of a national treatment protocol for breast cancer, encouraging the use of modified radical mastectomy (MRM) and quadrantectomy, axillary dissection and breast irradiation (QUART) as alternatives to Halsted's radical mastectomy (RM). RM frequency dropped from 52% to 8% in TIS-T1A and from 82% to 20% in T2A-T3A cases in the study period, in favor of MRM and of QUART, which increased from 10% to 54% in TIS-T1A cases. Although surgical choices differ widely according to individual surgeons, a definite trend towards more conservative surgery is evident, which demonstrates how the national treatment protocol has affected current surgical practice.

Breast↗
PubMed1986

Patterns of axillary metastases in breast cancer.

Thirty-seven (4.1%) cases of nodal metastases skipping the first level are reported in a consecutive series of 912 breast cancer axillary dissections including 392 N+ cases. First level nodes examination is sufficiently accurate in assessing the quality of nodal status (negative or positive) but not the extent of nodal involvement (number of involved nodes).

Axilla↗
PubMed1985

Staging breast cancer--screening for occult metastases.

The authors report on 1,017 consecutive breast cancer cases without symptomatic metastases staged by means of chest X-ray (CXR), skeletal survey (BXR) and bone scintigraphy (BS). Occult metastases (DM) detection rate was 0.88%: 0.29% for lung and 0.59% for bone DM. The detection rate was correlated with clinical stage: 0.36% for stage I, 0.20% for stage II, 0.26% for stages I and II, and 2.77% for stage III cases. The sensitivity based on DM cases prevalent or surfacing within 6 months of follow-up was 0.30 for CXR, 0.22 for BXR and 0.55 for BS; specificity was 0.99, 0.98 and 0.90, respectively. The study confirms the possibility of early detection of DM with preoperative staging, but the extremely low detection rates in stage I and II cancers do not advise such a routine procedure. The higher detection rate of DM may suggest adoption of the routine staging procedure in stage III cancers. In these cases, although no evidence is available of a favorable prognostic impact of early detection and treatment of DM, an unnecessary mastectomy could be avoided in about 3% of cases in the presence of DM detected by the staging procedure.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1985

Circulating immune complexes (CIC) as tumor marker in the follow-up of breast cancer.

We report on the possible diagnostic and prognostic role of circulating immune complexes (CIC) determination in breast cancer. A sensitivity of 87% and a specificity of 90% were observed in a case-control study of 15 cancers and 25 noncancer healthy controls. A direct correlation of CIC level to the presence and probably to the entity of the tumor mass was assessed by comparing preoperative to postoperative CIC determinations in cancer cases: CIC levels were significantly lower after tumor removal. These preliminary results suggest further studies on the use of CIC determination in the follow-up of breast cancer for the early diagnosis of recurrent disease.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Prognostic role of estrogen receptor determination in breast cancer.

The authors report on 283 primary, non-metastatic, breast cancer cases consecutively referred after surgery and followed-up from a minimum of 10 months to a maximum of 3.5 years. All cases were studied according to the presence of estrogen receptors (ER). ER presence was correlated with age and menstrual status, with ER+ cases more frequent in older patients. No correlation was found between ER and nodal status. Prognosis was evaluated in terms of disease-free survival at 2 years (actuarial method). No correlation between ER and survival was evident for N- cases, whereas a better prognosis was recorded for ER+N+ patients compared to ER-N+, although the difference was not statistically significant. The observed results are compared with recent literature data and agree with other recent reports, which did not confirm the previously undiscussed statement regarding the prognostic role of ER determination. According to these studies and to the present study, the prognostic role of ER determination seems at least questionable and particularly the postoperative adjuvant treatment of ER-N- cases should be reconsidered.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Reasons for failure of physical examination in breast cancer detection (analysis of 232 false-negative cases).

The diagnostic role of physical examination (PE) is evaluated in 1450 cases of breast cancer detected in 34,677 women controlled at the Centro per lo Studio e la Prevenzione Oncologica in the period 1974-1981. In 47 cancer cases, PE findings were normal since the neoplasm was not clinically palpable because of its size and site, and in another 185 cases the clinical diagnosis was benignancy without evidence of suspect signs. Therefore, the overall sensitivity of PE was 84%. PE errors did not involve a therapeutic delay for the patient in 75% of cases in which a biopsy was recommended for clinical benignancy or for suspicion on the basis of other diagnostic methods. The present study confirms that PE has a good diagnostic sensitivity when the examined population is represented by self-referred women, who for the most part are symptomatic, whereas it cannot be considered as the only diagnostic test for early diagnosis in mass screening, since in asymptomatic women a large number of cancers are not clinically palpable. Moreover, PE shows lower sensitivity for small lesions and in younger women. Extensive use of fine needle aspiration cytology and other diagnostic methods in association with PE is therefore recommended to reduce the possibility of errors.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Lymphoscintigraphy and gamma probe tracing in detecting breast cancer lymph node involvement: can they replace axillary lymph node dissection?

BACKGROUND: Axillary lymph node status is the most important pathological determinant of prognosis in early breast cancer. However, axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) performed for pathological assessment is not without costs and morbidity. Recently, radioisotope-guided sentinel node biopsy (SNB) has been proposed as a promising technique for staging breast cancer patients. AIM OF THE STUDY: In this study we report our experience (76 patients) in radioguided sentinel node (SN) biopsy in breast cancer. The study was divided into two phases: the first represents our learning curve, necessary to establish our guidelines for its use in clinical practice, while the second phase was aimed at assessing the feasibility of SN localization using preoperative lymphoscintigraphy and intraoperative gamma probe (GP) detection. METHODS: All patients underwent lymphoscintigraphy (LS) up to two hours after tracer delivery (99mTc-micro-nanocolloid, four i.d. injections of 200 microCi/200 miccroL around the primary lesion) 24 hours before surgery and GP tracing during surgery. Subsequently ALND was performed for pathological assessment. RESULTS: SNs were identified in 73/76 patients using LS and in 72/76 using GP. In one case the SN was detected by GP alone while in two cases GP was not able to locate the SN although it had been identified by means of LS. Thirty-three of these 73 patients had axillary node involvement. In 31/33 cases the SN was the only positive node. No positive nodes were found in the remaining 40 ALNDs where SNs were identified. Thus, according to our experience 40/73 ALNDs could have been avoided. SNB seems to be a very interesting technique but further experience in lymph node radioisotope tracing is needed.

Axilla↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Lack of prognostic value of p53 protein expression in node-negative breast cancer.

AIMS AND BACKGROUND: The association of p53 protein accumulation and prognosis in node-negative breast cancer patients has been alternately demonstrated and denied in literature reports, and opinions on the use of p53 expression as an indicator of high risk of recurrence and as a guide for adjuvant therapy are controversial. STUDY DESIGN: The association of p53 protein accumulation with prognosis was retrospectively evaluated in a series of 221 node-negative breast cancer patients treated with surgery alone and followed up for a minimum of 10 years. p53 accumulation was determined by immunohistochemistry on archive material, and classified into four grades of increasing immunostaining. RESULTS: No association was observed between p53 and age or pT category, whereas a significant association with nuclear grade was found (P = 0.0014). Univariate and multivariate analysis of 10-yr disease-free and overall survival showed a significant and independent prognostic association for tumor size (pT category) and nuclear grading but not for p53 expression, whatever grade grouping was used. CONCLUSIONS: We did not find any evidence supporting the use of p53 immunostaining in current practice as an independent prognostic indicator or as a discriminant factor for adjuvant treatment of node-negative breast cancer patients.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The role of a new monoclonal antibody assay in the detection of recurrent breast cancer.

The immunoradiometric assay "CA 15-3", recently developed to measure a breast tumor-associated antigen, gave a mean serum value of 13.8 U/ml (S.D. 6.2) for this antigen in 156 non-cancer controls (36 biopsies for a benign breast lesion and 120 healthy controls). Setting a cut-off value of 30 U/ml (specificity 99.3%), only 3 out of 58 primary breast cancer cases were positive. In metastatic breast cancer, 11 out of 33 cases with limited recurrence (33.3%) and 36 out of 56 cases with extensive recurrence (64.3%) gave abnormal values in this assay, above the cut-off point, with an overall sensitivity of 52.8%; the difference between the sensitivity values in the two groups of recurrent cases was statistically significant (P less than 0.01). According to the findings of the present study, CA 15-3 has no role in the detection of primary breast cancer, but its usefulness in disease monitoring can be hypothesized, as circulating levels of the antigen seem to be dependent on the tumor mass.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The role of CA 15-3 and MCA monoclonal antibody assays in the detection of primary and recurrent breast cancer.

CA 15-3 and MCA assays were tested in 103 operable patients (preoperative determination) and 100 patients with advanced breast cancer. Normal CA 15-3 and MCA values were determined in a series of 68 healthy women. The negative/positive cut-off was set at 28.8 U/ml and 15.5 U/ml respectively for CA 15-3 and MCA (mean value + 2SD). Results were analyzed in the two groups and with respect to T and N pathological categories in the preoperative series. In pT1 (59 pts), pT2 (30 pts), pT3 + pT4 (14 pts), pNO (58 pts), pN1 (45 pts) and overall preoperative series CA 15-3 and MCA sensitivities were respectively 25%, 40%, 57%, 22%, 42%, 30% and 27%, 30%, 35%, 21%, 33%, 26%. In the patients affected by widespread disease, sensitivity was 92% and 80% for CA 15-3 and MCA. Results were significantly different among normal, preoperative and advanced patients (P less than 0.05). Our results suggest that CA 15-3 and MCA levels are correlated with the tumor mass. Nevertheless, the low sensitivity in pT1 and pNO cases indicates that these two assays have no role in the diagnosis of early breast cancer. In the advanced patients, too, the results can be questioned: in the present study, in fact, recurrent cases were characterized by gross disease with multiple site involvement and cannot be considered as an example of early diagnosis of breast cancer recurrence.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗