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Seric profile predictive for recurrence in patients undergone curative hepatic resection for metastasis from Colo-Rectal Carcinoma
Get PDFIntroduction: Liver metastatic disease is the first cause of death in Colorectal Cancer. Specifically, 20-25 % of patients has metastatic disease at the time of diagnosis, while 25-30 % of individuals will develop liver metastases during the course of disease.
At diagnosis only 10-20% of patients is resectable remaining surgical resection the only potentially curative treatment.
However, two-third of patients who received curative surgery will experience recurrence of disease, and 75% will relapse within the first two years after hepatectomy. Several combinations of clinical-pathological parameters have been proposed to analyze the prognosis of patients with potentially resectable colorectal liver metastases, in particular various molecular markers have been considered, but any of these has not been validated for clinical use. Recently, some trials have proposed the detection of tumoral circulating DNA to be a prognostic marker in solid neoplasms.
Aim of the Study: Aim of the study is to determine if peri-operative tumoral circulating DNA detected in blood of patients with colorectal liver metastases can be a prognostic marker for recurrences.
Materials and Methods: Between March 2009 and March 2011 we analyzed 26 patients who underwent surgical resection for colorectal liver metastases. 19 patients were male, 7 patients were female. Mean age was 63.7 years (45-79). We collected a sample of venous blood before surgical procedure (Tf0) and after 30 days (Tf1). In these two samples we applied qRT- PCR to quantify total circulating DNA (ALU83) and tumoral circulating DNA (ALU244) in serum.
Results: Median follow-up was 15 months (range 3-26); median DFS was 19 months. Median ALU244/ALU83 ratio was 0.28 (range 0.0652-0.763). Patients with ALU244/ALU83 ratio > 0.28 had worst recurrence-free survival than patients with ALU244/ALU83 ratio 0.28. (Hazard Ratio 8.07; P-value: 0.0205).
Conclusions: In our Study the value of circulating DNA ALU244/ALU83 ratio in patients with colorectal liver metastases who underwent curative hepatic resection has a prognostic value for detecting recurrences. It is necessary to enforce the case-study by increasing the number of patients and extending follow-up for patients already included.Introduzione: Nella storia naturale del cancro del colon–retto le metastasi epatiche costituiscono la causa maggiore di decesso. Il 20-25% dei pazienti presenta metastasi epatiche al momento della diagnosi del tumore primitivo mentre il 25-30% dei casi le svilupperà nel corso dell’evoluzione della malattia.
Al momento della diagnosi solo il 10-20% di pazienti risulta candidato ad una resezione curativa del fegato pur rimanendo l’intervento chirurgico di resezione epatica l’unico trattamento potenzialmente curativo.
Circa due terzi dei pazienti trattati con intento curativo va incontro a recidiva e il 75% di queste recidive si manifesta nei primi 2 anni dall’intervento chirurgico.
Allo scopo di analizzare più accuratamente l'evoluzione clinica di questi pazienti sono stati considerati diversi fattori prognostici, in particolare è stato studiato l’andamento di molteplici marcatori molecolari, ma nessuno di questi è stato validato nella pratica clinica. Recentemente alcuni ricercatori hanno proposto lo studio del DNA circolante di origine tumorale come fattore prognostico in alcuni tumori solidi.
Scopo dello Studio: Lo scopo dello studio è stato di verificare se la quantità di DNA circolante di origine tumorale misurata nel sangue dei pazienti prima e a 30 giorni dalla resezione epatica possa essere considerato un fattore prognostico di rischio di recidiva.
Materiali e Metodi: Sono stati analizzati 26 pazienti sottoposti a resezione epatica per metastasi da cancro del colon-retto nel periodo compreso tra Marzo 2009 e Marzo 2011. 19 erano di sesso maschile e 7 di sesso femminile; l’età media è risultata di 63.7 anni (range 45-79). E’ stato effettuato un prelievo di sangue venoso prima dell’intervento (Tf0) e dopo 30 giorni dallo stesso (Tf1). In queste due serie di campioni è stata quantificata nel siero la quota di DNA circolante totale (ALU83) e la quota di DNA circolante di origine tumorale (ALU244).La quantificazione del DNA circolante è stata effettuata mediante mediante la q RT-PCR.
Risultati: Il follow-up mediano di questi pazienti è risultato di 15 mesi (range 3-26); l’intervallo libero da malattia (DFS) mediano è risultato di 19 mesi
Il valore mediano di ALU244/ALU83 è risultato pari a 0,28 (range 0.0652-0.763)
Nei pazienti con rapporto ALU244/ALU83 > 0,28 l’hazard ratio di recidiva nei 12 mesi successivi all’intervento è risultato 8 volte superiore rispetto ai pazienti con rapporto ALU244/ALU83 0.28. (P- value: 0.0205).
Conclusioni: Nel nostro studio il valore del rapporto ALU244/ALU83 del DNA circolante tumorale nei pazienti affetti da metastasi epatiche da cancro del colon-retto e sottoposti a resezione curativa del fegato è correlato con un elevato rischio di recidiva. Sarà indispensabile aumentare il follow-up di questo gruppo di pazienti ed implementare la casistica allo scopo di confermare i dati ottenuti
Respiratory function after sugammadex and neostigmine administration for reversal of moderate rocuronium-induced neuromuscular blockade in morbidly obese patients
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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
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
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
Relationship between gastric pouch and weight loss after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy
Get PDFBackground Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) is
considered safe and effective even as conversion procedure
after primary bariatric operations. The correlation between
gastric pouch volumes and patients weight loss remains
unclear.
Methods To assess a correlation between the gastric remnant
size and the weight loss, we reviewed 49 consecutive
barium swallow UGS performed at our institute from August
2012 through May 2014 in LSG patients with symptoms
and/or unsatisfactory weight loss. The anteroposterior (AP),
laterolateral (LL) and vertical (CC) diameters of the gastric
pouch were measured to calculate the volume by the formula
of the ellipsoid (AP 9 LL 9 CC 9 0.5). Patients were
divided in two groups: group 1 without gastric pouch
(n = 36) and group 2 with gastric pouch (n = 13). Correlation
between pouch volume and weight loss data was
calculated with t Student’s and Fisher tests to compare the
percent excess body mass index (BMI) and percent excess
body mass loss (EBL) between two groups, and P\0.05
was considered statistically significant.
Results The mean percent EBL was 26.54 ± 11.02 and
27.12 ± 12.35 kg/m2 in groups with and without pouch,
respectively. The mean volume of the pouch after LSG was
17.13 ± 21.56 mm3. Pouch volume, when present, was not
significantly correlated to weight loss (P = 0.88 95 % CI,
CL 19.88–33.20 group 2; CL 22.94–31.30 group 1).
Conclusions No statistical correlation was found between
the volume of the gastric pouch and weight loss (percent
EBL) after LSG in symptomatic or with unsatisfactory
weight loss patients
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
No full textWe have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
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