Teresa Perillo

• Medical Doctor at Policlinico di Bari

If, as widely recognized in the scientific community, adolescent and young adult cancer patients are in many ways unique, then the spaces where they receive care should be equally special. The design of hospital environments that cater to the specific needs of young patients is a crucial factor in defining the essential features that care centers s...

Background/Objectives: Selumetinib, a MEK1/2 inhibitor, is commonly used for treating neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) and is associated with cutaneous side effects such as paronychia and periungual granulomas. These complications can be painful and difficult to manage, often leading to the discontinuation of treatment. The objective of this study wa...

Background: Serum albumin is crucial for critically ill patients. To date, several reports have focused on the influence of lower albumin levels on poorer prognosis and disease outcome in different subsets of critical clinical conditions varying from sepsis, to cirrhosis, renal failure, and cancer. In the last few years, investigators reported the...

This article describes the oncology programs developed in Italy for adolescents and young adults with cancer, with a specific focus on the local projects created in pediatric oncology centers. A common feature of such projects is the emphasis on creative and artistic activities and laboratories (involving music, photography, novel writing, fashion...

Primary Central Nervous System Lymphoma is a rare extranodal non-Hodgkin lymphoma, primarily arising in brain and spinal cord tissue, leptomeninges and vitreoretinal eye. Pediatric PCNSLs are even rarer. We describe the case of a boy presenting with seizures and a suspected brain meningioma, but a final diagnosis of ALK+ Anaplastic Large Cell Lymph...

Purpose: This study set out to evaluate the psychosocial effects of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) among adolescents with cancer, and whether these effects are significantly different among adolescents who were undergoing therapy or had completed it. Materials and methods: The AIEOP Adolescents Working Group and the AIEOP Psychosocial Worki...

Worldwide, the coronavirus 19 disease pandemic caused a worse chance of a timely diagnosis for cancer patients. We conducted a retrospective analysis of new diagnoses registered in the national pediatric oncology database, comparing the first lockdown period (March-May 2020) with the same period of 2015-2019. The total number of cases (0-19 years)...

Li-Fraumeni syndrome (LFS) is a rare high-penetrance and autosomal-dominant pathological condition caused by the germline mutation of the TP53 gene, predisposing to the development of tumors from pediatric age. We conducted a qualitative systematic review following the ENTREQ (Enhancing Transparency in Reporting the Synthesis of Qualitative Researc...

Introduction This study investigated the utility of F-18-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (18F-FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) in assessing bone marrow involvement (BMI) compared to bone marrow biopsy (BMB) in newly diagnosed pediatric Hodgkin’s lymphoma (HL). Materials and methods 224 pediatric patients with HL underwent 18...

Lung cavitary lesions are a rare finding in the nontransplant setting of a patient with acute leukemia. Among viral agents, cytomegalovirus (CMV) may cause pulmonary nodules and cavities in patients undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, but during pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia treatment, CMV disease is less common. Here we re...

Società Scientifiche Italiane Insieme per gli Adolescenti con Malattie Onco-ematologiche (SIAMO) is an Italian nationwide scheme that focuses on adolescent patients with cancer. Some of its activities include promoting dedicated local projects at the various oncology centers all over the country and organizing events to improve awareness regarding...

We investigated the prognostic value of interim ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT (PET-2) in pediatric Hodgkin lymphoma (pHL), evaluating both visual and semiquantitative analysis. Thirty pHL patients (age ≤16) underwent serial ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT: at baseline (PET-0), after 2 cycles of chemotherapy (PET-2) and at the end of first-line chemotherapy (PET-T). PET response a...

The purpose of the study was to examine safety and efficacy of non-activated Protein C (PC) supplementation in our cohort of septic pediatric hematological patients. We conducted a retrospective study of 22 septic patients receiving human plasma-derived PC concentrate from 2008 to 2015 at our Pediatric Oncology Center (Bari, Italy). The Surviving s...

Mucormycosis is an uncommon but severe fungal infection, typically observed in immunocompromized patients. We report a case of acute lymphoblastic leukemia complicated by rhino-oculo-cerebral mucormycosis in a pediatric patient. Combination lipid polyeneechinocandin therapy, along with surgical debridement appeared to be effective. Nevertheless, a...

Invasive fungal infections are an important cause of morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised children. Increases in the incidence of systemic mycoses have been observed during the last 2 decades. Treatment of invasive fungal infections has improved through a better knowledge and application of current treatment strategies and through the devel...