Ricerc@Sapienza

Background. Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most common cause of cancer-related mortality; nevertheless, there are few data regarding detection of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in NSCLC, compared to other kinds of cancers in which their prognostic roles have already been defined. This difference is likely due to detection methods based on the epithelial marker expression which ignore CTCs undergoing epithelial-mesenchymal transition (CTCsEMT). Methods.

We present a review of available diagnostic tools for adolescent endometriosis, a condition that may have a different pathogenesis than the adult form and therefore necessitates specific methodologies. The new theory provides that endometrial stem/progenitor cells in neonatal uterine bleeding may be causally linked to early-onset endometriosis, thereby explaining both the occurrence in pre-menarcheal girls and its severity in some adolescents. Severe disease seems characterised by the presence of ovarian endomerioma.

As of today, there is no proof that the ovarian endometrioma in an adolescent represents a progressive condition, although evidence is accumulating that active management of this phenotype of endometriosis is warranted. Indeed, although symptoms will often start at a young age, even before menarche, a major delay between their onset and final diagnosis seems almost unavoidable, risking serious damage and impairment of future fertility.

Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio was found associated with worse disease recurrence and progression in patients with T1 non–muscle-invasive bladder cancer in some single-center studies. We validated high pretreatment neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (cutoff, 3) as an independent predictor of disease recurrence, progression, and cancer-specific survival in patients with primary T1 HG/G3 non–muscle-invasive bladder cancer treated with intravesical bacillus Calmette-Guérin therapy.

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common cancer among children. Recent advances in chemotherapy have made ALL a curable haematological malignancy. In children, there is 25% chance of disease relapse, typically in the central nervous system. While in adults, there is a higher chance of relapse. ALL may affect B-cell or T-cell lineages. Different genetic alterations characterize the two ALL forms. Deregulated Notch, either Notch1 or Notch3, and CXCR4 receptor signaling are involved in ALL disease development and progression.