Maria Giuseppina Mazzocchi | Università degli Studi di Padova (original) (raw)
Papers by Maria Giuseppina Mazzocchi
Quality of life in colon cancer patients with skin side effects: preliminary results from a monoc... more Quality of life in colon cancer patients with skin side effects: preliminary results from a monocentric cross sectional study
Journal of Clinical Oncology, 2004
4068 Background: Treatment options for advanced or metastatic gastric cancer (A/MGC) are limited ... more 4068 Background: Treatment options for advanced or metastatic gastric cancer (A/MGC) are limited and therefore inclusion of novel substances is necessary. Few studies have confirmed the activity and tolerability of the combination of oxaliplatin (OXA) and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) modulated with leucovorin (LV) administered to patients (pts) with A/MGC. METHODS Thirty-five patients with A/MGC treated with FOLFOX-4 regimen. All patients had a pathologically confirmed A/MGC and at least one measurable lesion, 14 pts (40%) were previously untreated and 21 (60%) received prior chemotherapy. The regimen included: LV 200 mg/sqm/d as 2-hour infusion followed by bolus 5-FU 400 mg/sqm/d and a 22-hour infusion of 5-FU 600 mg/sqm/d, repeated for 2 consecutive days every 2 weeks, OXA 85 mg/sqm on day 1, given as a 2-hour infusion in 250 ml of 5% dextrose concurrent with LV (FOLFOX-4 regimen). Pts characteristics: males-21 (60%), female-14 (40%), median age-67 years (range 28-78), 16 pts (45.7%) had a performance status (PS) of 0 or 1 and 19 (54.3%) had a PS of 2 (WHO/ECOH scale), histology: adenocarcinoma in all cases. The 35 pts reported in this study received 283 cycles of therapy (median number 8, range 3-16). Median follow-up time is 7 months. The most common toxicities was haematological: grade 3 hematological toxicity included anemia in 16%, neutropenia in 18.5% and thrombocytopenia in 10%. Only one patient had a grade 4 neutropenia, while no other grade 4 hematological toxicities were observed; none pts experienced neutropenic fever. Only 3 pts (8.6%) had a grade 3 diarrea. No other grade 3 or 4 toxicities including peripheral neurophaty were reported in these pts and no toxic deaths occurred. RESULTS A complete response (CR) was achieved in 1 patient (2.9%), a partial response (PR) in 16 pts (45.7%), a stable disease (SD) for at least 12 weeks 10 pts (28.6%), and 8 pts (22.9%) showed tumor progression. CONCLUSIONS This study, giving a 48.6% of best response rate (CR + PR) and a 28.6% of SD showing good activity with mild and acceptable toxicity of OXA/5-FU/LV regimen on patients with A/MGC; survival and response analyses will be presented. No significant financial relationships to disclose.
Journal of Clinical Oncology, 2008
20721 Background: Cetuximab and panitumumab have demonstrated clinical activity in CRC treatment.... more 20721 Background: Cetuximab and panitumumab have demonstrated clinical activity in CRC treatment. However, their use is associated with dermatologic reactions of varying severity. The impact on HRQ...
Journal of Clinical Oncology, 2008
1127 Background: TNBC (ER, PR, HER2 negative) pts can be treated with conventional chemotherapy o... more 1127 Background: TNBC (ER, PR, HER2 negative) pts can be treated with conventional chemotherapy only. The combination of 5- FU (350 mg/m2 iv bolus day 1 to 3), L (100 mg/m2 iv day 1 to 3) and N (20–25 mg/m2 bolus on day 1 and 3) every 3 weeks is an active regimen in metastatic breast cancer (MBC) (Nole et al., Ann Oncol 1997). Methods: Among 137 consecutive MBC pts routinely treated at our Institution with the FLN regimen since 1999, 26 (19%) had TNBC. Median age was 61 yrs, prior adjuvant CT: 88%, one line of CT for MBC: 42%, Visceral involvement: 80%, >2 metastatic sites: 52%. Results: Efficacy data of FLN regimen are reported in Table 1. Response rate, TTF and OS among 105 evaluable non-TNBC pts treated during the same period with FLN were 48%, 7 mos and 19 mos, respectively. Among the 26 TNBC pts, neutropenia was the most frequent toxicity (NCI-CTCv2 grade IV in 32% of pts), with neutropenic fever in 3 cases (one toxic death). Nausea, vomiting and anorexia were mild to moderate in 35% of pts. Grade II...
Background: Epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors are widely prescribed anticancer drugs. P... more Background: Epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors are widely prescribed anticancer drugs. Patients treated commonly develop dermatologic adverse drugs reactions, but rarely they are involved in systematic evaluation of their quality of life. This ...
Chemotherapy use at the end of life. A retrospective single centre experience analysis
Cancer research, 1990
The role of CD4+ cells in the immune response to Moloney murine sarcoma/leukemia virus complex wa... more The role of CD4+ cells in the immune response to Moloney murine sarcoma/leukemia virus complex was studied in adult mice undergoing long-term CD4+ cell functional depletion by treatment with anti-CD4 H129.19 monoclonal antibody (immunoglobulin G2a, kappa). Adult mice given injections of Moloney murine sarcoma/leukemia virus complex 1 day or 2 wk after monoclonal antibody treatment died with progressing sarcomas at the inoculation site; mice challenged 4 wk after such treatment, when CD4+ cells recovered their functional activity, behaved like conventional mice; i.e., they spontaneously regressed the virus-induced sarcomas. Mice with progressing tumors did not generate virus-specific cytotoxic T-lymphocytes, despite a normal cytotoxic T-lymphocyte response to unrelated antigens, and they became virus carriers as demonstrated by Moloney murine leukemia virus antigen expression on their lymphoid cells a few days after virus injection. Moreover, the observed T-lymphocyte unresponsivenes...
Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 2010
Background: Epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors are widely prescribed anticancer drugs. P... more Background: Epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors are widely prescribed anticancer drugs. Patients treated commonly develop dermatologic adverse drugs reactions, but rarely they are involved in systematic evaluation of their quality of life. This monocentric cross sectional study is carried out to assess quality of life in colon cancer patients experienced skin side effects due to anti epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors therapy.
Cancer research, 1990
The role of CD4+ cells in the immune response to Moloney murine sarcoma/leukemia virus complex wa... more The role of CD4+ cells in the immune response to Moloney murine sarcoma/leukemia virus complex was studied in adult mice undergoing long-term CD4+ cell functional depletion by treatment with anti-CD4 H129.19 monoclonal antibody (immunoglobulin G2a, kappa). Adult mice given injections of Moloney murine sarcoma/leukemia virus complex 1 day or 2 wk after monoclonal antibody treatment died with progressing sarcomas at the inoculation site; mice challenged 4 wk after such treatment, when CD4+ cells recovered their functional activity, behaved like conventional mice; i.e., they spontaneously regressed the virus-induced sarcomas. Mice with progressing tumors did not generate virus-specific cytotoxic T-lymphocytes, despite a normal cytotoxic T-lymphocyte response to unrelated antigens, and they became virus carriers as demonstrated by Moloney murine leukemia virus antigen expression on their lymphoid cells a few days after virus injection. Moreover, the observed T-lymphocyte unresponsivenes...
Tumori
The aim of the study was to evaluate the attitude at our institution in using chemotherapy at the... more The aim of the study was to evaluate the attitude at our institution in using chemotherapy at the end of life in oncology patients. We compared our habits with other clinical patterns in medical oncology, calculating the temporal interval between the last chemotherapy administration and death of the patient. We selected and analyzed 102 patients who received chemotherapy for metastatic or advanced solid tumors (breast, colon, gastric, pancreatic and lung cancers) and who died either in or out of a hospital or hospice from June 2007 to the end of 2009. We compared 51 patients enrolled in clinical trials with 51 patients not enrolled in clinical trials. Patients of both groups died with advanced cancer between June 2007 and 2009. The following solid tumor types were represented: 48% colorectal cancer, 22% breast cancer, 30% other solid tumors (pancreatic, lung and gastric cancer). The median age at death was 62 years (range, 39 to 84), the male/female ratio was 52:50, and 69% of the p...
Palliative and Supportive Care, 2014
Objective: Caregivers play a key role in the management of patients with cancer. However, some st... more Objective: Caregivers play a key role in the management of patients with cancer. However, some studies have suggested that caregivers have even more unmet needs than the patients.
Supportive Care in Cancer, 2013
Purpose Chemotherapy improves the survival rate of stage III colon cancer patients. The combinati... more Purpose Chemotherapy improves the survival rate of stage III colon cancer patients. The combination of oxaliplatin, 5fluorouracil, and leucovorin (the FOLFOX4 regimen) has emerged as the standard of care. This prospective study evaluates potential alterations in cognitive function in FOLFOX4-treated patients. Methods We evaluated 57 consecutive colorectal cancer patients who received adjuvant chemotherapy with FOL-
Journal of Immunological Methods, 1991
An application of the Southern blot technique is described which permits the detection of DNA fra... more An application of the Southern blot technique is described which permits the detection of DNA fragmentation due to cell death by apoptosis. DNA fragments were isolated from cell suspensions and tissues, separated on agarose gel, transferred by Southern blot and hybridized with a radiolabeled total cellular DNA probe. The application of this procedure to thymus cell samples, revealed the distinct ladder pattern of DNA fragments in multiples of about 180-200 base pairs, a characteristic feature of DNA fragmentation. In comparison to conventional DNA visualization with ethidium bromide staining, the radiolabeled probe improved the detection of DNA fragments at least eight-fold. This method detects low levels of DNA fragments, as well as physiological tissue DNA fragmentation, while avoiding cell damage due to DNA radiolabeling.
Cellular Immunology, 1989
IL-2 was previously shown to induce cytotoxic effecters with a broad spectrum of target specifici... more IL-2 was previously shown to induce cytotoxic effecters with a broad spectrum of target specificities in thymus and spleen cell cultures. This study was designed to show whether T cells activated by H-2 allogeneic cells in MLC or by syngeneic tumor cells in MLTC are also potential targets for these cytotoxic effecters. We found that thymocytes activated in vitro for 5 days by rIL-2 were capable of killing tumor cells as well as activated T cells. Thymocytes activated by IL-2 were accordingly utilized as a means of effecting clonal deletion of T cells activated by H-2 allogeneic target cells in MLC. To establish whether the unresponsiveness is specific, IL-2-a&vated thymocytes were added as third party cells to MLC and MLTC. The results showed that both T cells, proliferating in response to H-2 allogeneic cells, and CTL, reactive against syngeneic tumors or H-2 allogeneic cells, are eliminated from the T cell pool. Only alloreactive T cells are specifically eliminated in MLC by IL-2-activated thymocytes, as the remaining T cells are capable of proliferating and generating CTL in response to antigenically unrelated third party allogeneic cells. The possibility that unresponsiveness might be due to soluble factors was ruled out by studies performed with a diffusable "chamber insert" culture system. The results provide evidence that IL-2-activated thymocytes induce in vitro T cell tolerance. o
Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 2010
Background: Epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors are widely prescribed anticancer drugs. P... more Background: Epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors are widely prescribed anticancer drugs. Patients treated commonly develop dermatologic adverse drugs reactions, but rarely they are involved in systematic evaluation of their quality of life. This monocentric cross sectional study is carried out to assess quality of life in colon cancer patients experienced skin side effects due to anti epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors therapy.
Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 2010
Background: Epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors are widely prescribed anticancer drugs. P... more Background: Epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors are widely prescribed anticancer drugs. Patients treated commonly develop dermatologic adverse drugs reactions, but rarely they are involved in systematic evaluation of their quality of life. This monocentric cross sectional study is carried out to assess quality of life in colon cancer patients experienced skin side effects due to anti epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors therapy.
Quality of life in colon cancer patients with skin side effects: preliminary results from a monoc... more Quality of life in colon cancer patients with skin side effects: preliminary results from a monocentric cross sectional study
Journal of Clinical Oncology, 2004
4068 Background: Treatment options for advanced or metastatic gastric cancer (A/MGC) are limited ... more 4068 Background: Treatment options for advanced or metastatic gastric cancer (A/MGC) are limited and therefore inclusion of novel substances is necessary. Few studies have confirmed the activity and tolerability of the combination of oxaliplatin (OXA) and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) modulated with leucovorin (LV) administered to patients (pts) with A/MGC. METHODS Thirty-five patients with A/MGC treated with FOLFOX-4 regimen. All patients had a pathologically confirmed A/MGC and at least one measurable lesion, 14 pts (40%) were previously untreated and 21 (60%) received prior chemotherapy. The regimen included: LV 200 mg/sqm/d as 2-hour infusion followed by bolus 5-FU 400 mg/sqm/d and a 22-hour infusion of 5-FU 600 mg/sqm/d, repeated for 2 consecutive days every 2 weeks, OXA 85 mg/sqm on day 1, given as a 2-hour infusion in 250 ml of 5% dextrose concurrent with LV (FOLFOX-4 regimen). Pts characteristics: males-21 (60%), female-14 (40%), median age-67 years (range 28-78), 16 pts (45.7%) had a performance status (PS) of 0 or 1 and 19 (54.3%) had a PS of 2 (WHO/ECOH scale), histology: adenocarcinoma in all cases. The 35 pts reported in this study received 283 cycles of therapy (median number 8, range 3-16). Median follow-up time is 7 months. The most common toxicities was haematological: grade 3 hematological toxicity included anemia in 16%, neutropenia in 18.5% and thrombocytopenia in 10%. Only one patient had a grade 4 neutropenia, while no other grade 4 hematological toxicities were observed; none pts experienced neutropenic fever. Only 3 pts (8.6%) had a grade 3 diarrea. No other grade 3 or 4 toxicities including peripheral neurophaty were reported in these pts and no toxic deaths occurred. RESULTS A complete response (CR) was achieved in 1 patient (2.9%), a partial response (PR) in 16 pts (45.7%), a stable disease (SD) for at least 12 weeks 10 pts (28.6%), and 8 pts (22.9%) showed tumor progression. CONCLUSIONS This study, giving a 48.6% of best response rate (CR + PR) and a 28.6% of SD showing good activity with mild and acceptable toxicity of OXA/5-FU/LV regimen on patients with A/MGC; survival and response analyses will be presented. No significant financial relationships to disclose.
Journal of Clinical Oncology, 2008
20721 Background: Cetuximab and panitumumab have demonstrated clinical activity in CRC treatment.... more 20721 Background: Cetuximab and panitumumab have demonstrated clinical activity in CRC treatment. However, their use is associated with dermatologic reactions of varying severity. The impact on HRQ...
Journal of Clinical Oncology, 2008
1127 Background: TNBC (ER, PR, HER2 negative) pts can be treated with conventional chemotherapy o... more 1127 Background: TNBC (ER, PR, HER2 negative) pts can be treated with conventional chemotherapy only. The combination of 5- FU (350 mg/m2 iv bolus day 1 to 3), L (100 mg/m2 iv day 1 to 3) and N (20–25 mg/m2 bolus on day 1 and 3) every 3 weeks is an active regimen in metastatic breast cancer (MBC) (Nole et al., Ann Oncol 1997). Methods: Among 137 consecutive MBC pts routinely treated at our Institution with the FLN regimen since 1999, 26 (19%) had TNBC. Median age was 61 yrs, prior adjuvant CT: 88%, one line of CT for MBC: 42%, Visceral involvement: 80%, >2 metastatic sites: 52%. Results: Efficacy data of FLN regimen are reported in Table 1. Response rate, TTF and OS among 105 evaluable non-TNBC pts treated during the same period with FLN were 48%, 7 mos and 19 mos, respectively. Among the 26 TNBC pts, neutropenia was the most frequent toxicity (NCI-CTCv2 grade IV in 32% of pts), with neutropenic fever in 3 cases (one toxic death). Nausea, vomiting and anorexia were mild to moderate in 35% of pts. Grade II...
Background: Epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors are widely prescribed anticancer drugs. P... more Background: Epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors are widely prescribed anticancer drugs. Patients treated commonly develop dermatologic adverse drugs reactions, but rarely they are involved in systematic evaluation of their quality of life. This ...
Chemotherapy use at the end of life. A retrospective single centre experience analysis
Cancer research, 1990
The role of CD4+ cells in the immune response to Moloney murine sarcoma/leukemia virus complex wa... more The role of CD4+ cells in the immune response to Moloney murine sarcoma/leukemia virus complex was studied in adult mice undergoing long-term CD4+ cell functional depletion by treatment with anti-CD4 H129.19 monoclonal antibody (immunoglobulin G2a, kappa). Adult mice given injections of Moloney murine sarcoma/leukemia virus complex 1 day or 2 wk after monoclonal antibody treatment died with progressing sarcomas at the inoculation site; mice challenged 4 wk after such treatment, when CD4+ cells recovered their functional activity, behaved like conventional mice; i.e., they spontaneously regressed the virus-induced sarcomas. Mice with progressing tumors did not generate virus-specific cytotoxic T-lymphocytes, despite a normal cytotoxic T-lymphocyte response to unrelated antigens, and they became virus carriers as demonstrated by Moloney murine leukemia virus antigen expression on their lymphoid cells a few days after virus injection. Moreover, the observed T-lymphocyte unresponsivenes...
Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 2010
Background: Epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors are widely prescribed anticancer drugs. P... more Background: Epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors are widely prescribed anticancer drugs. Patients treated commonly develop dermatologic adverse drugs reactions, but rarely they are involved in systematic evaluation of their quality of life. This monocentric cross sectional study is carried out to assess quality of life in colon cancer patients experienced skin side effects due to anti epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors therapy.
Cancer research, 1990
The role of CD4+ cells in the immune response to Moloney murine sarcoma/leukemia virus complex wa... more The role of CD4+ cells in the immune response to Moloney murine sarcoma/leukemia virus complex was studied in adult mice undergoing long-term CD4+ cell functional depletion by treatment with anti-CD4 H129.19 monoclonal antibody (immunoglobulin G2a, kappa). Adult mice given injections of Moloney murine sarcoma/leukemia virus complex 1 day or 2 wk after monoclonal antibody treatment died with progressing sarcomas at the inoculation site; mice challenged 4 wk after such treatment, when CD4+ cells recovered their functional activity, behaved like conventional mice; i.e., they spontaneously regressed the virus-induced sarcomas. Mice with progressing tumors did not generate virus-specific cytotoxic T-lymphocytes, despite a normal cytotoxic T-lymphocyte response to unrelated antigens, and they became virus carriers as demonstrated by Moloney murine leukemia virus antigen expression on their lymphoid cells a few days after virus injection. Moreover, the observed T-lymphocyte unresponsivenes...
Tumori
The aim of the study was to evaluate the attitude at our institution in using chemotherapy at the... more The aim of the study was to evaluate the attitude at our institution in using chemotherapy at the end of life in oncology patients. We compared our habits with other clinical patterns in medical oncology, calculating the temporal interval between the last chemotherapy administration and death of the patient. We selected and analyzed 102 patients who received chemotherapy for metastatic or advanced solid tumors (breast, colon, gastric, pancreatic and lung cancers) and who died either in or out of a hospital or hospice from June 2007 to the end of 2009. We compared 51 patients enrolled in clinical trials with 51 patients not enrolled in clinical trials. Patients of both groups died with advanced cancer between June 2007 and 2009. The following solid tumor types were represented: 48% colorectal cancer, 22% breast cancer, 30% other solid tumors (pancreatic, lung and gastric cancer). The median age at death was 62 years (range, 39 to 84), the male/female ratio was 52:50, and 69% of the p...
Palliative and Supportive Care, 2014
Objective: Caregivers play a key role in the management of patients with cancer. However, some st... more Objective: Caregivers play a key role in the management of patients with cancer. However, some studies have suggested that caregivers have even more unmet needs than the patients.
Supportive Care in Cancer, 2013
Purpose Chemotherapy improves the survival rate of stage III colon cancer patients. The combinati... more Purpose Chemotherapy improves the survival rate of stage III colon cancer patients. The combination of oxaliplatin, 5fluorouracil, and leucovorin (the FOLFOX4 regimen) has emerged as the standard of care. This prospective study evaluates potential alterations in cognitive function in FOLFOX4-treated patients. Methods We evaluated 57 consecutive colorectal cancer patients who received adjuvant chemotherapy with FOL-
Journal of Immunological Methods, 1991
An application of the Southern blot technique is described which permits the detection of DNA fra... more An application of the Southern blot technique is described which permits the detection of DNA fragmentation due to cell death by apoptosis. DNA fragments were isolated from cell suspensions and tissues, separated on agarose gel, transferred by Southern blot and hybridized with a radiolabeled total cellular DNA probe. The application of this procedure to thymus cell samples, revealed the distinct ladder pattern of DNA fragments in multiples of about 180-200 base pairs, a characteristic feature of DNA fragmentation. In comparison to conventional DNA visualization with ethidium bromide staining, the radiolabeled probe improved the detection of DNA fragments at least eight-fold. This method detects low levels of DNA fragments, as well as physiological tissue DNA fragmentation, while avoiding cell damage due to DNA radiolabeling.
Cellular Immunology, 1989
IL-2 was previously shown to induce cytotoxic effecters with a broad spectrum of target specifici... more IL-2 was previously shown to induce cytotoxic effecters with a broad spectrum of target specificities in thymus and spleen cell cultures. This study was designed to show whether T cells activated by H-2 allogeneic cells in MLC or by syngeneic tumor cells in MLTC are also potential targets for these cytotoxic effecters. We found that thymocytes activated in vitro for 5 days by rIL-2 were capable of killing tumor cells as well as activated T cells. Thymocytes activated by IL-2 were accordingly utilized as a means of effecting clonal deletion of T cells activated by H-2 allogeneic target cells in MLC. To establish whether the unresponsiveness is specific, IL-2-a&vated thymocytes were added as third party cells to MLC and MLTC. The results showed that both T cells, proliferating in response to H-2 allogeneic cells, and CTL, reactive against syngeneic tumors or H-2 allogeneic cells, are eliminated from the T cell pool. Only alloreactive T cells are specifically eliminated in MLC by IL-2-activated thymocytes, as the remaining T cells are capable of proliferating and generating CTL in response to antigenically unrelated third party allogeneic cells. The possibility that unresponsiveness might be due to soluble factors was ruled out by studies performed with a diffusable "chamber insert" culture system. The results provide evidence that IL-2-activated thymocytes induce in vitro T cell tolerance. o
Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 2010
Background: Epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors are widely prescribed anticancer drugs. P... more Background: Epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors are widely prescribed anticancer drugs. Patients treated commonly develop dermatologic adverse drugs reactions, but rarely they are involved in systematic evaluation of their quality of life. This monocentric cross sectional study is carried out to assess quality of life in colon cancer patients experienced skin side effects due to anti epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors therapy.
Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 2010
Background: Epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors are widely prescribed anticancer drugs. P... more Background: Epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors are widely prescribed anticancer drugs. Patients treated commonly develop dermatologic adverse drugs reactions, but rarely they are involved in systematic evaluation of their quality of life. This monocentric cross sectional study is carried out to assess quality of life in colon cancer patients experienced skin side effects due to anti epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors therapy.