Activity

Finally, their promise as biomarker of treatment effect and response is also examined.Expert opinion Serum neurofilaments light chain quantification is technically feasible and is likely to provide relevant pieces of information to understand MS pathophysiology, and identify patients at higher risk to develop multiple sclerosis and more severe disability. A future role in monitoring treatment effects and response and drug-related side-effects is envisaged.Recently we evaluated by actigraphy the rest-activity circadian rhythm (RAR) in breast cancer (BC) survivors at 5 years from primary diagnosis, as well as in a control group with similar age and body mass index (BMI). RAR, analyzed by Cosinor method, resulted significantly different in BC survivors compared to healthy subjects BC survivors showed lower values of MESOR and Amplitude (A), while acrophase (φ) was similar in the two groups.Now, using non-parametric methods we have detected Interdaily Stability (IS), Intradaily Variability (IV), nocturnal activity (L5), and daily activity (M10) on the same sample of previous study 15 BC survivors at 5 years from the primary diagnosis (mean age = 56.7 ± 6.6 yrs; mean BMI = 24.5 ± 3.8 Kg/m2) and 13 healthy controls (mean age = 54.4 ± 7.2 yrs; mean BMI = 25.2 ± 2.8 Kg/m2).The non-parametric indices showed that in BC-group IV was significantly higher than in Ctrl-group (0.86 vs. 0.65 a.u. in BC and Ctrl, respectively; p less then .01), while L5 (11.27 vs. 34.41 a.c. in BC and Ctrl, respectively; p less then .0001) and M10 (326.82 vs. 428.07 a.c. in BC and Ctrl, respectively; p less then .01) were significantly lower compared to Ctrl-group.The data suggest that BC patients need constant clinical assessment of RAR characteristics along the years following the primary diagnosis. The analysis of RAR in all its components, parametric and non-parametric, is important to detect alterations in the sleep-wake cycle and can be useful for developing new strategies for health protection, such as structured and tailored physical activity programs, to improve circadian activity level in order to raise the quality of life in BC survivors.Introduction Ovarian carcinoma (OC) is the leading cause of death in women with gynecologic cancers. Most patients are diagnosed at an advanced stage with a low five-year survival rate of 20-30%. JAK inhibitor Discovering novel biomarkers for early detection and outcome prediction of OC is an urgent medical need. miRNAs, a group of small non-coding RNAs, play critical roles in multiple biologic processes and cancer pathogenesis.Areas covered We provide an in-depth look at the functions of miRNAs in OC, particularly focusing on their roles in chemoresistance and metastasis in OC. We also discuss the biological and clinical significance of miRNAs in exosomes and expand on long non-coding RNA which acts as ceRNA of miRNAs.Expert opinion miRNAs participate in many biological processes including proliferation, apoptosis, chemoresistance, metastasis, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, and cancer stem cell. They will substantially contribute to our understanding of OC pathogenesis. Given their resistance to the degradation of ribonucleases and availability in plasma exosomes, miRNAs may serve as emerging biomarkers for cancer detection, therapeutic assessment, and prognostic prediction. Being a messenger, exosomal miRNAs are crucial for the crosstalk between cancer cells and stromal cells in tumor microenvironment.Introduction In recent years, the introduction of targeted therapy and immunotherapy into clinical practice has radically changed the management of advanced melanoma. More recently, these treatments also became the standard of care in the adjuvant setting. However, high-risk resectable stage III melanoma (i.e. with clinically detected regional lymph node involvement and/or satellites/in transit metastases) still has a high risk of relapse, even after adjuvant treatment, suggesting that the activity of immunotherapy and targeted therapy may play a relevant role in a neoadjuvant setting.Area covered In this review, we discuss the results of the main clinical trials conducted in the neoadjuvant setting for patients with resectable stage III and stage IV melanoma, with a focus on the hot topics and a look at the future perspectives of the field.Expert opinion The long-term effects of immunotherapy and the high response rate of targeted therapy provided the strong rationale to start neoadjuvant clinical trials for patients with resectable stage III and oligometastatic stage IV melanoma. Neoadjuvant therapy may play an important role not only for its possible impact on overall survival, but also as a predictive biological marker to allow for a more accurate personalization of adjuvant treatments.Studies suggest that redox imbalance may be closely associated with pathological aging, contributing effectively to the genesis of several chronic diseases. One of the major defence enzymes against oxidation is Manganese-dependent superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) that acts within the mitochondria. The gene encoding this enzyme is polymorphic and Val16Ala variant is one of its most investigated polymorphisms regarding aging and oxidative stress. This study aimed to verify the occurrence of the MnSOD Val16Ala gene polymorphism association with markers of REDOX metabolism in the elderly of primary health care. A cross-sectional study was performed. The sample consisted of 270 elderly individuals from Family Health Strategy in the city of Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil (EMISUS). The following variables were investigated in all subjects sociodemographic gender, age, marital status, schooling and income; Anthropometric weight, height, body mass index (BMI); REDOX markers advanced oxidation protein products (AOPP), ischemia-modified albumin (IMA), nitric oxide metabolites (NOx), ferric reducing ability of plasma (FRAP) and malondialdehyde (MDA), MnSOD Val16Ala gene polymorphism. Val16Ala gene polymorphism was evaluated by polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). Statistically significant associations were observed in the elderly with AA genotype compared to those with VV genotype, concerning AOPP (p = 0.023) and FRAP (p = 0.027) quartile frequencies, respectively. No statistically significant differences were observed between MnSOD genotypes with MDA, NOx and IMA oxidative markers. Val16Ala gene polymorphism is associated with AOPP and FRAP quartiles frequencies in the elderly of primary health care.