Maurizio Cantore

Azienda Ospedaliera Carlo Poma Mantova · Department of Oncology

In Italy, data regarding the use of complementary therapies (CTs) among patients with cancer are sparse and discordant. The present study aimed to investigate the demographic and psychological characteristics of Italian cancer patients who use CTs and the perceived benefit of users. Eight hundred three patients from six Italian oncology departments...

The use of platinated agents in combination chemotherapy regimens for advanced pancreatic cancer is controversial owing to the lack of an outstanding impact on the outcome and a substantial increase in hematologic and extra-hematologic toxicities. Pharmacogenetic studies to identify patients who could benefit most from such therapies are urgently n...

Background: Information about the adherence to scientific societies guidelines in the 'real-world' therapeutic management of oncological patients are lacking. This multicenter, prospective survey was aimed to improve the knowledge relative to 2017-2018 recommendations of the Italian Association of Medical Oncology (AIOM). Patients and methods: T...

Background Local ablation of pancreatic cancer has been suggested as an option to manage locally advanced pancreatic cancer (LAPC) although no robust evidence has been published to date to support its application. The aim of this study is to compare overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) in patients receiving both radiofrequency...

Background: Previous studies on oxaliplatin and fluoropyrimidines as adjuvant therapy in older patients with stage III colon cancer (CC) produced conflicting results. Patients and methods: We assessed the impact of age on time to tumour recurrence (TTR), disease-free survival (DFS), cancer-specific survival (CSS), and overall survival (OS) in 2360...

Background Oxaliplatin-based adjuvant chemotherapy is the standard treatment of high-risk colon cancer (CC). A shorter duration (3 months) can achieve a similar outcome [in terms of relapse-free survival (RFS)] to a longer duration. This study reports the overall survival (OS) analysis of the three or six colon adjuvant (TOSCA) phase III study. It...

Background: Although it has been proven for many years that adjuvant chemotherapy is the standard of care for stage III colon cancer (CC) after resection, there is no sufficient evidence that its role on stage II patients get the same benefit. ASCO and ESMO guidelines have identified inadequate sampling of lymph nodes, pT4 primary tumors, obstructi...

Background ASCO and ESMO guidelines have identified inadequate sampling of lymph nodes, pT4 primary tumors, obstruction or perforation, lymphovascular and perineural invasion, and poorly differentiated tumors as negative prognostic factors supporting the clinicians in treating their patients with stage II colon cancer (CC). However, the influence o...

Rare truncating BRCA2 K3326X (rs11571833) and pathogenic CHEK2 I157T (rs17879961) variants have previously been implicated in familial pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), but not in sporadic cases. The effect of both mutations in important DNA repair genes on sporadic PDAC risk may shed light on the genetic architecture of this disease. Both m...

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a very aggressive tumor with a five-year survival of less than 6%. Chronic pancreatitis (CP), an inflammatory process in of the pancreas, is a strong risk factor for PDAC. Several genetic polymorphisms have been discovered as susceptibility loci for both CP and PDAC. Since CP and PDAC share consistent numb...

Background: Six months of oxaliplatin-based treatment has been the standard of care as adjuvant therapy for stage III colon cancer and an accepted option for high-risk stage II. Given the cumulative neurotoxicity associated to oxaliplatin, a shorter duration of therapy, if equally efficacious, would be advantageous for patients and health-care syst...

Objective: The present study intended to evaluate the impact of a standardized format-called the "Music Givers," based on a single session of music intervention followed by a buffet-on the psychological burden and well-being of hospitalized cancer patients. Method: The Distress Thermometer (DT), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS),...

Expression of the solute carrier (SLC) transporter SLC22A3 gene is associated with overall survival of pancreatic cancer patients. This study tested whether genetic variability in SLC22A3 associates with pancreatic cancer risk and prognosis. Twenty four single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) tagging the SLC22A3 gene sequence and regulatory elements...

Background: Six months of oxaliplatin-based adjuvant chemotherapy is standard of care for radically resected stage III colon cancer and an accepted option for high-risk stage II. A shorter duration of therapy, if equally efficacious, would be advantageous for patients and Health Care Systems. Methods: TOSCA (“Randomized trial investigating the r...

Background Six months of oxaliplatin-based adjuvant chemotherapy is standard of care for radically resected stage III colon cancer and an accepted option for high-risk stage II. A shorter duration of therapy, if equally efficacious, would be advantageous for patients and Health Care Systems. Methods TOSCA (“Randomized trial investigating the role...

In Italy a new experience of music medicine called "The Music Givers" is spreading among Oncology Units; it aims to organise weekly live concerts (length 45-60 min) followed by a buffet. Purpose of the present study is to evaluate the effect of the format of The Music Givers on cancer in-patients' anxiety. State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-Y) was...

Germline genetic variability might contribute, at least partially, to the survival of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) patients. Two recently performed genome-wide association studies (GWAS) on PDAC overall survival (OS) suggested (p<10-5) the association between 30 genomic regions and PDAC OS. With the aim to highlight the true associations...

To improve clinical response in patients with unresectable recurrent rectal cancer, several methods of regional chemotherapy delivery have been suggested. One of these is pelvic perfusion. Hypoxic pelvic perfusion has been mainly proposed as palliative treatment in patients with unresectable locally recurrent rectal cancer who are nonresponders or...

Tumor hypoxia is the condition where cancer cells have been deprived of oxygen. As a tumor grows, it rapidly outgrows its blood supply, leaving portions of the tumor with regions where the oxygen concentration is significantly lower than in healthy tissues. Hypoxic tumor cells are usually resistant to chemotherapy and radiotherapy, but they can be...

Dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD) is the initial and rate-limiting enzyme of the metabolic pathway of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and other fluoropyrimidines to inactive compounds. For this reason, severe, life-threatening toxicities may occur in patients with deficient DPD activity when administered standard doses of 5-FU and its prodrugs. We select...

To investigate efficacy and safety of second-line treatment with irinotecan-loaded drug-eluting beads (DEBIRI) and cetuximab (DEBIRITUX) of unresectable colorectal liver metastases. Patients with the following characteristics were included in the study: unresectable hepatic metastases from colorectal carcinoma (CRC-LM), progression after first line...

A small number of common susceptibility loci have been identified for pancreatic cancer, one of which is marked by rs401681 in the TERT - CLPTM1L gene region on chr5p15.33. Since this region is characterized by low linkage disequilibrium (LD), we sought to identify additional SNPs could be related to pancreatic cancer risk, independently of rs40168...

Chemotherapy near the end of life is an issue frequently discussed nowadays, but literature is generally poor. We analyzed patients with cancer who received chemotherapy in their last month of life. The study involved all patients treated in our oncological department between 2010 and 2012; our attention focused on patients receiving chemotherapy i...

Although many studies indicate that the use of complementary and alternative medicine by cancer patients is common and widespread, few studies have focused on unmet needs of patients using complementary therapies (CTs). The aim of the present study was to evaluate, through a quantitative approach, possible associations between the use of CTs and th...

BACKGROUND: Donatori di Musica (Music givers) is a network of musicians, health personnel, patients, caregivers, volunteers whose aim is to organize free concerts in oncology departments. More than 200 musicians have performed 160 concerts for 6,000 inpatients in several Italian oncology departments (Toccafondi A., et al. (2013) Musing in oncology:...

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) patients have the highest risk of developing cachexia, which is a direct cause of reduced quality of life and shorter survival. Novel biomarkers to identify patients at risk of cachexia are needed and might have a substantial impact on clinical management. Here we investigated the prognostic value and associa...

Aim: Six months FOLFOX4 or XELOX is the standard adjuvant chemotherapy in radically resected stage III colon cancer, however a shorter duration of therapy could be equally efficacious. Methods: This is an Italian, multicenter, non-inferiority phase III trial randomizing patients (pts) with stage III and high risk stage II colon cancer to receive 3...

Biliary tract cancer (BTC) is a highly lethal disease for which the best available therapy remains undetermined. The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway is upregulated in several cancers, including BTC, and preclinical evidence indicates that mTOR inhibition may be effective in the treatment of BTC. We sought to evaluate the activity and t...

Some trial havedemonstrated a benefit of adjuvant fluoropirimidine with or without platinum compounds compared to surgery alone. ITACA-S study was designed to evaluate whether a sequential treatment of FOLFIRI (irinotecan plus 5-fluorouracil/folinic acid [5-FU/LV]) followed by docetaxel plus cisplatin improves disease free survival in comparison to...

Aim: EZH2 expression is a prognostic marker in radically resected pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) patients. Here we investigated its role in locally advanced/metastatic patients, as well as candidate polymorphisms. Materials & methods: EZH2 expression and polymorphisms were evaluated by quantitative reverse transcription PCR in 32 laser...

Aim: EZH2 expression is a prognostic marker in radically resected pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) patients. Here we investigated its role in locally advanced/metastatic patients, as well as candidate polymorphisms. Materials & methods: EZH2 expression and polymorphisms were evaluated by quantitative reverse transcription PCR in 32 laser mic...

This is a medical position statement developed by the Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency collaborative group which is a part of the Italian Association for the Study of the Pancreas (AISP). We covered the main diseases associated with exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI) which are of common interest to internists/gastroenterologists, oncologists...

Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a deadly disease arising from the malignant transformation of cholangiocytes. Enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) is overexpressed in poorly differentiated CCA. Functional single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in this gene may affect the role of EZH2 in cholangiocarcinogenesis and chemoresistance. The aim of the current...

Extraneural dissemination of oligodendroglioma is rare. Cases of breast metastases have never been described in the literature. We report the first two cases of young women with initial diagnosis of anaplastic oligodendroglioma who experienced mammary gland metastases and a review of the literature. Immunohistochemical analysis performed on materia...

Wie bereits in ► Kap. 1 beschrieben, kann die Induktionschemotherapie Änderungen auslosen, welche die Erfolgsaussichten einer anschließenden Operation bzw. Strahlentherapie erhöhen. Die Beckenperfusion kann als Induktionschemotherapie für die Behandlung von Rektumkarzinomen vornehmlich bei Lokalrezidiven, aber auch bei bestimmten Patienten mit fort...

Medizinische Ansätze zur Krebsbehandlung und vornehmlich die Strahlen- und Chemotherapie basieren nahezu ausschließlich auf Wirkstoffen, die Zellen vernichten. Das Hauptproblem der aktuellen Behandlungsmethoden besteht jedoch darin, dass diese nicht spezifisch nur Krebszellen angreifen. Bei den Zytostatika macht vor allem die konstante und kontinui...

Background: Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is a relatively new technique, applied to metastatic solid tumours which, in recent studies, has been shown to be feasible and safe on locally advanced pancreatic carcinoma (LAPC). RFA can be combined with radio-chemotherapy (RCT) and intra-arterial plus systemic chemotherapy (IASC). The aim of this study...

Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths in the European Union and in the USA, but little is known about its genetic susceptibility. The PANcreatic Disease ReseArch (PANDoRA) consortium was established to unite the efforts of different research groups; its aim is to create a large bio-database to uncover new genetic factors fo...

Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is an emerging treatment for patients with locally advanced pancreatic carcinoma, and can be combined with radiochemotherapy and intra-arterial plus systemic chemotherapy. This observational study compared two groups of patients with locally advanced pancreatic carcinoma treated with either primary RFA (group 1) or RFA...

This multicenter study evaluated the association of 11 candidate polymorphisms in eight genes with outcome of pancreatic cancer patients treated with the equivalent polychemotherapeutic regimens: cisplatin/epirubicin/capecitabine/gemcitabine, cisplatin/docetaxel/capecitabine/gemcitabine and gemcitabine/capecitabine plus epirubicin/cisplatin intra-a...

Tumor hypoxia is the condition where cancer cells have been deprived of oxygen. As a tumor grows, it rapidly outgrows its blood supply, leaving portions of the tumor with regions where the oxygen concentration is significantly lower than in healthy tissues. Hypoxic tumor cells are usually resistant to chemotherapy and radiotherapy, but they can be...

Context: This multicenter study was aimed at evaluating the association of candidate polymorphisms with outcome of pancre- atic cancer patients treated with the equivalent polychemotherapeutic regimens cisplatin-epirubicin-capecitabine-gemcitabine (PEXG), cisplatin-docetaxel-capecitabine-gemcitabine (PDXG) and gemcit- abine-capecitabine plus epirub...

Background Information on the treatment of pancreatic endocrine tumours (PETs) comes mostly from small, retrospective, uncontrolled studies. Methods Newly diagnosed, histologically proven PETs, observed from June 2004 to March 2007 in 24 Italian centres, were included in a specific dataset. Results Three-hundred and ten patients (mean age 57.6 year...

The aim of the study was to evaluate safety and efficacy of gemcitabine-cisplatin in elderly patients with advanced non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This study included 59 patients aged >70 years consecutively admitted to our Department. treatment consisted of gemcitabine 1000 mg/m(2) on days 1 and 8, and low-dose fractionated cisplatin 20 mg/m(...

Information on pancreatic endocrine tumors (PETs) comes mostly from small, retrospective, uncontrolled studies conducted on highly selected patients. The aim of the study was to describe the clinical and pathological features of PETs in a prospective, multicenter study. Newly diagnosed, histologically proven, sporadic PETs observed from June 2004 t...

Gemcitabine plus capecitabine are active in patients (pts) with advanced pancreatic cancer (APC). Intra-arterial chemotherapy showed activity and low toxicity. Combination of systemic and intra-arterial chemotherapy was investigated. Patients with APC, progressed after a first-line chemotherapy, were included. Fixed doses of epirubicin 35 mg/m(2) a...

Biliary tract carcinoma (BTC) is a rare highly malignant neoplasia. Polymorphisms at the xeroderma pigmentosum group D (XPD), excision repair cross-complementing group-1 (ERCC1) and X-ray repair cross complementing group 1 (XRCC1) genes were evaluated and correlated with clinical outcome. Thirty-three patients with BTC were treated with intravenous...

Management of patients with heavily pretreated malignant lymphoma failing front-line treatment and salvage high-dose chemotherapy and autologous peripheral stem cell rescue is problematic. A phase I-II evaluation trial was conducted to evaluate thoracic stop-flow perfusion. nine refractory patients were enrolled in the study. The schedule of thorac...

248 patients with non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHL) were retrospectively analysed in an attempt to elucidate the risk factors, the prognostic importance and the therapeutic implications of blood involvement. Bone marrow involvement and large spleen were significantly correlated to leukaemic manifestations (P <0.0001 and P <0.0005, respectively); converse...

Intraperitoneal (IP) chemotherapy has been used in patients presenting different stages of ovarian cancer. We performed a critical review of the available literature on IP as first-line treatment in advanced ovarian cancer to consider if this new option should be incorporated into the commonly applied guidelines for treatment of ovarian cancer. We...

Abstract Hypoxia characterizing tumour milieu and represents a key aspect in tumor progression and response to treatment. Many researchers are evaluating the differences between normal and neoplastic cells at biomolecular properties. The physiology of tumours is substantially different from that of normal tissues from which we have a unique and sel...

Abstract The interaction between neoplastic cells and vasculature results in low oxygen tension, low extra-cellular pH and high interstitial fluid pressure. New multi-target tyrosine kinase inhibitors are new therapeutically options in solid tumours. They share the capacity of modulate the hypoxia inducible factor (HIF)-VEGF-VEGF receptor sequence...

Colorectal cancer is one of the most significant health emerging problem in western countries. Patients with colorectal cancer have liver metastases at presentation in about 25% of cases and another 50% will develop liver recurrence within the next 5 years. Intra-arterial hepatic chemoembolization (TACE) could be a new therapeutic opportunity in th...

Limited information on second-line treatment in patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma is available. At time of first-line treatment failure, approximately half of the patients are candidates for further treatment. A retrospective review of 183 patients submitted to second-line therapy has been performed to identify prognostic factors, provides us...

We demonstrated that colorectal liver metastases considered in complete response after intra-arterial floxuridine-based chemotherapy had recurred in situ. One hundred and six colorectal liver metastases disappeared after intra-arterial chemotherapy. Persistent macroscopic disease was observed at surgery at the site of 52 of 106 liver metastases, ev...

The aim of this study is to identify the prognostic factors of a large group of patients with pancreatic cancer who underwent the same regimen of intra-arterial chemotherapy. 5-fluorouracil (1000 mg/m2), leucovorin (100 mg/m2), epirubicin (60 mg/m2), and carboplatin (300 mg/m2) were administered every 3 weeks into celiac axis (FLEC regimen). Kaplan...

Pet therapy is utilised to improve the quality of life of patients with chronic diseases. The impact of AAA (animal-assisted activities), a kind of pet therapy, on oncological patients submitted to chemotherapy was evaluated. Two groups of patients receiving chemotherapy with (experimental group) or without AAA (control group) were compared. The 2...

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the activity of hepatic intra-arterial infusion of epirubicin and cisplatin combined with oral capecitabine, in patients with unresectable biliary carcinomas. Twenty patients were treated by bolus infusion of epirubicin 50 mg/m2 and cisplatin 60 mg/m2 in the hepatic artery on day 1, combined with oral ca...

In the past decade, some authors have reported objective responses and prolonged median survival times using hypoxic abdominal perfusion (HAP) for the treatment of advanced pancreatic cancer. However, these promising results have not been confirmed by others, making it difficult to define the effectiveness of this loco-regional chemotherapy. The ai...