1,720,994 research outputs found
Diabetes and cancer: A critical appraisal of the pathogenetic and therapeutic links
No full textDiabetes and cancer represent two common, multifactorial, chronic and potentially fatal diseases, not infrequently co-diagnosed in the same patient. Epidemiological data demonstrate significant increases of the cancer incidence in patients with obesity and diabetes, which is more evident for certain site-specific cancers. Although there is increasing evidence that strongly indicates an augmented risk of cancer in diabetic patients, several confounding factors complicate the ability to precisely assess the risk. Mainly in insulin-resistant states (such as in type 2 diabetes mellitus and in metabolic syndrome), direct associations between obesity-related hyperinsulinemia and increasing circulating insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) levels have been implicated as key factors in the mechanisms involved in carcinogenesis. Whilst anti-diabetic drugs can increase the cancer risk, anti-proliferative drugs may cause diabetes or aggravate pre-existing diabetes. Additionally, an increasing number of targeted anti-cancer therapies may interfere with the pathways shared by IGF-1 and insulin receptors, showing a adverse effect on glucose metabolism through various mechanisms. Although there is a requirement for large-scale randomized evidence, the present review summarizes the majority of the epidemiological association studies between diabetes and various types of cancer, discussing the pathophysiological mechanisms that may be involved in promoting carcinogenesis in diabetes and the potential impact of different anti-diabetic therapies on cancer risk
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
A narrative review on the implementation of liquid biopsy as a diagnostic tool in thoracic tumors during the COVID-19 pandemic
Get PDFObjective: In this review, we evaluate the role of liquid biopsy in managing lung cancer patients during the
still ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) healthcare emergency.
Background: The novel influenza coronavirus (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus or SARSCoV-2) has upended several aspects of our lives, including medical activities. In this setting, many routine
cancer diagnostic and therapeutic procedures have been suspended, leading to delays in diagnosis, treatments,
and, ultimately, increases in cancer mortality rates. Equally drastic has been the impact of COVID-19 on
clinical trials, many of which have been stalled or have never begun. This has left many patients who were
hoping to receive innovative treatments in a limbo. Although, as of today, the introduction of drastic security
measures has been crucially important to contain the pandemic, one cannot ignore the need to continue
providing chronically ill patients all the health care they need, in terms of detection, prevention, and
treatment. In these unprecedented times, liquid biopsy, more than ever before, may play a relevant role in
the adequate management of these frail patients.
Methods: we performed a deep analysis of the recent international literature published in English on
PUBMED in the last six months focused on the impact of SARS-CoV-2 on the management of lung cancer
patients, focusing the attention on the role of liquid biopsy.
Conclusions: COVID-19 pandemic has significantly modified our lives and overall medical practice. In
these unprecedented times, liquid biopsy may represent a valid and less time-consuming diagnostic approach
than conventional tissue and cytological specimens
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Clinical efficacy of nab-paclitaxel in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer
Get PDFPurpose: Pancreatic carcinoma is the neoplasia with the major mortality, and main standard
treatments in this cancer increase survival but do not lead to complete recovery of the patient.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of Abraxane® (nab-paclitaxel) in Italian
patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer (MPC).
Patients and methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of 80 patients. Overall survival
(OS) was the primary end point for evaluating the efficacy of nab-paclitaxel in combination
with gemcitabine treatment, while carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA 19-9) reduction, safety,
progression-free survival (PFS), overall response rate and reduction in pain were secondary
end points.
Results: The median OS was 8 months, and the median PFS was 5 months. A considerable
difference in CA 19-9 before and after treatment was observed. Descriptive and correlation
analyses were done to examine the relationship between CA 19-9 response and OS. Linear
regression analysis between OS and CA 19-9 response revealed that CA 19-9 is an important
predictor of OS, showing a positive correlation.
Conclusion: Nab-paclitaxel is a well-tolerated and effective treatment for patients affected by
MPC. The drug showed an improved tolerability profile, significant pain relief and an increase
in survival rate
Extracellular Vesicles-ceRNAs as Ovarian Cancer Biomarkers: Looking into circRNA-miRNA-mRNA Code
Get PDFSIMPLE SUMMARY: Patients with ovarian cancer have a very poor chance of long-term survival, usually due to advanced disease at the time of diagnosis. Emerging evidence suggests that extracellular vesicles contain noncoding RNAs such as microRNAs, piwiRNAs, circular RNAs, and long noncoding RNAs, with regulatory effects on ovarian cancer. In this review, we focus on ovarian cancer-associated circular RNA shuttled by extracellular vesicles as mediators of cancer progression and novel biomarkers in liquid biopsy. We propose a circular-RNA–microRNA-mRNA code that can reveal the regulatory network created by extracellular vesicles, noncoding RNAs, and mRNAs in ovarian cancer. Future research in this field will help to identify novel diagnostic biomarkers and druggable therapeutic targets, which will ultimately benefit patients. ABSTRACT: Ovarian cancer (OC) is one of the most lethal gynecologic malignancies in females worldwide. OC is frequently diagnosed at an advanced stage due to a lack of specific symptoms and effective screening tests, resulting in a poor prognosis for patients. Age, genetic alterations, and family history are the major risk factors for OC pathogenesis. Understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying OC progression, identifying new biomarkers for early detection, and discovering potential targets for new drugs are urgent needs. Liquid biopsy (LB), used for cancer detection and management, consists of a minimally invasive approach and practical alternative source to investigate tumor alterations by testing extracellular vesicles (EVs), circulating tumor cells, tumor-educated platelets, and cell-free nucleic acids. EVs are nanosize vesicles shuttling proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids, such as DNA, RNA, and non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), that can induce phenotypic reprogramming of target cells. EVs are natural intercellular shuttles for ncRNAs, such as microRNAs (miRNAs) and circular-RNAs (circRNAs), known to have regulatory effects in OC. Here we focus on the involvement of circRNAs and miRNAs in OC cancer progression. The circRNA-microRNA-mRNA axis has been investigated with Circbank and miRwalk analysis, unraveling the intricate and detailed regulatory network created by EVs, ncRNAs, and mRNAs in OC
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Get PDFWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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