Ardi Pambuku

• Medical Doctor at Istituto Oncologico Veneto

Background Early palliative care (EPC) is a recommended model for improving the quality of life for patients with advanced cancer and their caregivers. However, limited research has focused on the role of psychological evaluation within EPC. The Veneto Institute of Oncology (IOV), a Comprehensive Cancer Centre, employs an interdisciplinary team to...

Background Veneto Institute of Oncology has activated a simultaneous care outpatient clinic (SCOC) in which cancer patients with advanced‐stage cancer are evaluated by oncologist and palliative care specialists. This cross‐sectional study investigated patients' perceptions of the quality of this service. Materials and Methods An ad‐hoc self‐admini...

Pain is one of the predominant and troublesome symptoms that burden cancer patients during their whole disease trajectory: adequate pain management is a fundamental component of cancer care. Opioid are the cornerstone of cancer pain relief therapy and their skillful management must be owned by physicians approaching cancer pain patients. In light o...

The prognosis of patients with advanced adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is often poor: in the case of metastatic disease, five-year survival is reduced. Advanced disease is not a non-curable disease and, in referral centers, the multidisciplinary approach is the standard of care: if a shared decision regarding several treatments is available, includ...

Background Early activation of palliative care for patients with advanced cancer is central in the treatment trajectory. At the Veneto Institute of Oncology, a simultaneous-care outpatient clinic (SCOC) has been active since 2014, where patients are evaluated by an oncologist together with a palliative care team. Recently, we reported on consecutiv...

How to cite this article: Armento A, Carpenedo R, Furnari M, et al. Naldemedina per la gestione della costipazione indotta dagli oppioidi. Rivista SIMG 2021;28(6):102-116. © Copyright by Società Italiana di Medicina Generale e delle Cure Primarie OPEN ACCESS L'articolo è open access e divulgato sulla base della licenza "Creative Commons Attribution...

Benefits of early palliative care referral in oncology are well-validated. At the Veneto Institute of Oncology-IRCCS, a simultaneous-care outpatient clinic (SCOC) has been active since 2014, where patients with advanced cancer are evaluated by an oncologist together with a palliative care team. We prospectively assessed SCOC patients’ characteristi...

Dopamine agonists (DAs, especially cabergoline) are recommended as first-line treatment in patients with prolactin-secreting pituitary adenomas, to reduce hormone secretion and tumor size. Pituitary surgery, suggested in nonresponsive patients, cannot achieve a gross total resection or is not feasible in some cases. Temozolomide (TMZ) has been prop...

Purpose: In-depth characterization of recurrent glioblastoma (rGBM) might contribute to a better understanding of the mechanisms behind tumor progression and enable rGBM treatment with targeted drugs. Experimental Design: In this study, GBM samples were collected at diagnosis and recurrence from adult patients treated with Stupp protocol. Expressio...

Background: Glioblastoma is a highly vascularised tumour and there are few treatment options after disease recurrence. Regorafenib is an oral multikinase inhibitor of angiogenic, stromal, and oncogenic receptor tyrosine kinases. We aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of regorafenib in the treatment of recurrent glioblastoma. Methods: REGOMA...

BACKGROUND Treatment for GBM elderly PTS is still a challenge in neuro-oncology. Clinical tools, including CGA, are needed for improving treatment decision and outcome. The aim of this study was to evaluate CGA as a prognostic tool in terms of PFS and OS in elderly GBM PTS. METHODS We performed a retrospective analysis of elderly PTS ≥ 65 years, t...

Background Immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) represent a new interesting approach in oncology. The presence of DNA MMRd would seem to be a predictor of ICI efficacy. We analyzed MMRd frequency in glioma PTS and its correlation with clinical, histological and molecular characteristics. Material and Methods From July 2017 to May 2018, we prospectiv...

Background There is no established treatment regimen for recurrent GBM. GBMs have activation of multiple signaling pathways in the tumor microenvironment, including the receptor tyrosine kinases, VEGFR, FGFR, and PDGFR. Regorafenib (REG), an oral multikinase inhibitor, inhibits these angiogenic kinases and the mutant oncogenic kinases KIT, RET, and...

Background Treatment for GBM elderly PTS is still a challenge in neuro-oncology. Clinical tools, including CGA, are needed for improving treatment decision and outcome. To date, few studies exploring the impact of CGA on outcome have been performed in these PTS. The aim of this study was to evaluate CGA as a prognostic tool in terms of PFS and OS i...

Glioblastoma is the most common and aggressive primitive brain tumor in adults. Temozolomide (TMZ) administered daily with radiation therapy, followed by adjuvant TMZ has become the standard treatment. Although TMZ treatment has been considered to have a low toxicity profile, studies have noted the development of a severe myelosuppression, especial...

Background: Health-related quality of life (HRQoL), cognitive function, and psychological status represent an important focus during the treatment of glioblastoma patients. Nevertheless, few randomized, prospective clinical trials have analyzed these factors, and very little is known in the real-clinical world. We evaluated these characteristics i...

Pheochromocytomas (PCCs) and paragangliomas (PGLs) are neuroendocrine tumors with a strong genetic background. The mainstay of treatment for PCC/PGLs is surgery. However, for unresectable lesions, no curative treatment is currently available. Temozolomide (TMZ) has been shown to determine radiological and biochemical response in malignant PCC/PGLs....

Background: various prospective clinical trials on high-grade gliomas were performed in the last years but patient (PTS) characteristics and outcome may be different in real clinical practice. We performed a retrospective analysis to evaluate the real-life experience in Padua Neuro-Oncology center. Matherials and Methods: retrospectively, we review...

Background: MGMT gene promoter methylation status is acknowledged as a prognostic factor and predictive marker for temozolomide (TMZ) treatment. Although MGMT status determined by pyrosequencing was showed to correlate with progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS), it is still unclear a cut-off value that discriminates between meth...

Background: glioblastomas are highly vascularized tumors and various antiangiogenic drugs have been investigated in clinical trials showing unclear results. We performed a systematic review and a meta-analysis to clarify and evaluate their effectiveness in glioblastoma patients. Patients and methods: we searched relevant published and unpublishe...

The optimal treatment of recurrent glioblastoma (GBM) in elderly patients is unclear. Fotemustine (FTM) is a third-generation nitrosourea showing efficacy in gliomas and it has been used with different schedules in adult patients. We performed, for the first time anywhere, a mono-institutional retrospective study to analyze the clinical outcome of...

Letter to the Editor Patients with a mechanical heart prosthesis require lifelong anticoagulation to prevent valve thrombosis that could lead to deleterious complications or even death. LMWH protocols have proven feasible and safe in most mechanical prosthesis bearers requiring an interruption of oral anticoagulation because of surgery. However, so...

Disease prognosis is very poor in patients with brain tumors. Cognitive deficits due to disease or due to its treatment have an important weight on the quality of life of patients and caregivers. Studies often take into account quality of life as a fundamental element in the management of disease and interventions have been developed for cognitive...

The maintenance of quality of life in patients with high-grade glioma is an important endpoint during treatment, particularly in those with glioblastoma multiforme, given its dismal prognosis; thus, the primary aims of treatments are to reduce morbidity, restore or preserve neurological functions, and the capacity to perform daily activities. This...

The efficacy of temozolomide (TMZ) plus radiation therapy (RT) in elderly patients with glioblastoma is unclear. We performed a large multicenter retrospective study to analyze prognostic factors and clinical outcome in these patients. Inclusion criteria were age ≥65 years, newly histologically confirmed glioblastoma, ECOG PS 0-2, adjuvant treatmen...

The treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in elderly patients is unclear. In particular, the effi cacy and safety of sorafenib as a systemic treatment in these patients is still under debate. We performed a concise review of sorafenib therapy in this population. However, it is important to make any decisions on treatment for elderly patients...

Mutant isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) 1/2 enzymes can convert α-ketoglutarate into 2-hydroxyglutarate (2HG). The aim of the present study was to explore whether 2HG in plasma and urine could predict the presence of IDH1/2 mutations in patients with glioma. All patients had histological confirmation of glioma and a recent brain magnetic resonance im...

Background: To date, there is no standard treatment for recurrent glioblastoma. We analyzed the feasibility of second surgery plus carmustine wafers followed by intravenous fotemustine. Methods: Retrospectively, we analyzed patients with recurrent glioblastoma treated with this multimodal strategy. Results: Twenty-four patients were analyzed....

Fotemustine is a third-generation nitrosourea showing efficacy in various types of tumors such as melanoma and glioma. We reviewed the most important studies on fotemustine treatment in glioma patients analyzing its pharmacological profile and its activity and safety. Fotemustine was used as single agent or in association with new targeted drugs su...

Anaplastic ependymomas are rare tumors in adult patients. Maximal safe resection and use of radiation therapy are standard treatment approaches in patients with anaplastic ependymoma. Recurrent anaplastic ependymomas are treated by reoperation when the tumors are surgically accessible, by radiotherapy if not previously administered and by salvage c...