Ricerc@Sapienza

Diabetes and cancer are common, chronic, and potentially fatal diseases that frequently co-exist. Observational studies have reported an increased risk of cancer in patients with diabetes. Furthermore, many patients with cancer already have diabetes, or develop hyperglycaemia as a consequence of the tumor or of cancer therapies, and coexisting diabetes confers a greater risk of mortality for many malignancies.

Background: Thyroid fine-needle aspiration (FNA) is a reliable and cost-effective diagnostic tool for establishing the nature of thyroid nodules, although up to 30% of FNAs are still classified as “indeterminate.” Molecular testing of FNAs could improve preoperative diagnosis, thereby reducing unnecessary surgery. In this multicenter prospective study the authors investigated, using a 7-gene assay, the distribution and diagnostic impact of BRAF, RAS, RET/PTC, and PAX8/PPARg, the most frequent genomic alterations occurring during thyroid oncogenesis.

Autophagy is a catabolic process strongly involved in the immune response, and its dysregulation contributes to the onset of several diseases including cancer. The human oncogenic gammaherpesviruses, EpsteinBarr virus (EBV) and Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), manipulate autophagy, either during the de novo infection or during the lytic reactivation, in naturally latently-infected lymphoma cells.

Autophagy is a catabolic process whose activation may help cancer cells to adapt to cellular stress although, in some instances, it can induce cell death. Autophagy stimulation or inhibition has been considered an opportunity to treat cancer, especially in combination with anticancer therapies, although autophagy manipulation may be viewed as controversial. Thus, whether to induce or to inhibit autophagy may be the best option in the different cancer patients is still matter of debate.

What does it mean to say that event X caused outcome Y in biology? Explaining the causal
structure underlying the dynamic function of living systems is a central goal of biology.
Transformative advances in regenerative medicine and synthetic bioengineering will require
efficient strategies to cause desired system- level outcomes. We present a perspective on the
need to move beyond the classical ‘necessary and sufficient’ approach to biological causality

Inositol and its phosphate metabolites play a pivotal role in several biochemical pathways and gene expression regulation: inositol pyrophosphates (PP-IPs) have been increasingly appreciated as key signaling modulators. Fluctuations in their intracellular levels hugely impact the transfer of phosphates and the phosphorylation status of several target proteins. Pharmacological modulation of the proteins associated with PP-IP activities has proved to be beneficial in various pathological settings.

The widely recognized problems of pharmacological strategies based on killing cancer cells demand a rethink of therapeutic approaches. Tumor reversion strategies that aim to shift cancer cells to a healthy differentiated state are a promising alternative. Although many studies have firmly demonstrated the possibility of reverting cancer to a normal differentiated state, we are still unable (with the exception of retinoic acid in a form of leukemia) to revert cancer cells to a stable differentiated healthy state.

The altered expression levels of S100 proteins can lead to four different categories of diseases: diseases
of the heart and of the central nervous system, inflammatory disorders and cancer. Various studies have
shown the lack of harmonization of the results obtained with different methods, mainly due to different
performances and measurements of S100B. The purpose of this work was to compare quantitatively
the fully automated Elecsys® immunoassay with the reference immunoenzimatic method CanAg® EIA

Retroperitoneal colonic perforation is a rare cause of retroperitoneal abscess. It presents, more frequently in frail elderly patients, with heterogeneous signs and symptoms which hamper the clinical diagnosis. Subcutaneous emphysema with pneumomediastinum and iliopsoas muscle abscess are unusual signs. Colonic retroperitoneal perforation may be consequent to diverticulitis or locally advanced colon cancer.

Hashimoto thyroiditis associated with thyroid carcinoma — A case report. — The incidence reported in literature of Thyroid carcinoma associated with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis varies widely from 0.5% to 32%. The presence of a solitary cold nodale, unresponsive to suppressive therapy, in Hashimoto’s thyroiditis needs to be accurately studied. The cytologic diagnosis of the coexistence of both diseases presents certain problems (false-negative rate of FNA is 10%).