@article {8286, title = {The prognostic value of biological markers in paediatric Hodgkin lymphoma.}, journal = {Eur J Cancer}, volume = {52}, year = {2016}, month = {2016 Jan}, pages = {33-40}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Many biological and inflammatory markers have been proposed as having a prognostic value at diagnosis of Hodgkin lymphoma (HL), but very few have been validated in paediatric patients. We explored the significance of these markers in a large population of 769 affected children.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: By using the database of patients enrolled in A.I.E.O.P. (Associazione Italiana di Emato-Oncologia Pediatrica) trial LH2004 for paediatric HL, we identified 769 consecutive patients treated with curative intent from 1st June 2004 to 1st April 2014 with ABVD (doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine), or hybrid COPP/ABV (cyclophosphamide, vincristine, prednisone, procarbazine, doxorubicin, bleomycin and vinblastine) regimens.

RESULTS: On multivariate analysis with categorical forms, the 5-year freedom from progression survival was significantly lower in patients with stage IV or elevated value of platelets, eosinophils and ferritin at diagnosis. Furthermore, stage IV and eosinophils seem to maintain their predictive value independently of interim (after IV cycles of chemotherapy) positron emission tomography.

CONCLUSION: Using the combination of four simple markers such as stage IV and elevated levels of platelets, ferritin and eosinophils, it is possible to classify the patients into subgroups with very different outcomes.

}, keywords = {Adolescent, Age Factors, Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols, Biomarkers, Tumor, Blood Platelets, Child, Child, Preschool, Databases, Factual, Disease Progression, Disease-Free Survival, Eosinophils, Female, Ferritins, Hodgkin Disease, Humans, Infant, Infant, Newborn, Italy, Kaplan-Meier Estimate, Leukocyte Count, Male, Multivariate Analysis, Neoplasm Staging, Platelet Count, Predictive Value of Tests, Proportional Hazards Models, Retrospective Studies, Risk Factors, Time Factors, Treatment Outcome}, issn = {1879-0852}, doi = {10.1016/j.ejca.2015.09.003}, author = {Farruggia, Piero and Puccio, Giuseppe and Sala, Alessandra and Todesco, Alessandra and Buffardi, Salvatore and Garaventa, Alberto and Bottigliero, Gaetano and Bianchi, Maurizio and Zecca, Marco and Locatelli, Franco and Pession, Andrea and Pillon, Marta and Favre, Claudio and D{\textquoteright}Amico, Salvatore and Provenzi, Massimo and Trizzino, Angela and Zanazzo, Giulio Andrea and Sau, Antonella and Santoro, Nicola and Murgia, Giulio and Casini, Tommaso and Mascarin, Maurizio and Burnelli, Roberta} } @article {3601, title = {Childhood high-risk acute lymphoblastic leukemia in first remission: results after chemotherapy or transplant from the AIEOP ALL 2000 study.}, journal = {Blood}, volume = {123}, year = {2014}, month = {2014 Mar 6}, pages = {1470-8}, abstract = {

The outcome of high-risk (HR) acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients enrolled in the AIEOP-BFM ALL 2000 study in Italy is described. HR criteria were minimal residual disease (MRD) levels >=10(-3) at day 78 (MRD-HR), no complete remission (CR) at day 33, t(4;11) translocation, and prednisone poor response (PPR). Treatment (2 years) included protocol I, 3 polychemotherapy blocks, delayed intensification (protocol IIx2 or IIIx3), cranial radiotherapy, and maintenance. A total of 312 HR patients had a 5-year event-free survival (EFS) of 58.9\% (standard error [SE] = 2.8) and an overall survival of 68.9\% (SE = 2.6). In hierarchical order, EFS was 45.9\% (4.4) in 132 MRD-HR patients, 41.2\% (11.9) in 17 patients with no CR at day 33, 36.4\% (14.5) in 11 patients with t(4;11), and 74.0\% (3.6) in 152 HR patients only for PPR. No statistically significant difference was found for disease-free survival in patients with very HR features [MRD-HR, no CR at day 33, t(4;11) translocation], given hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) (n = 66) or chemotherapy only (n = 88), after adjusting for waiting time to HSCT (5.7 months). Patients at HR only for PPR have a favorable outcome. MRD-HR is associated with poor outcome despite intensive treatment and/or HSCT and may qualify for innovative therapies. The study was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as $\#$NCT00613457.

}, keywords = {Adolescent, Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols, Child, Child, Preschool, Combined Modality Therapy, Female, Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation, Humans, Infant, Male, Neoplasm, Residual, Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma, Radiotherapy, Remission Induction, Treatment Outcome}, issn = {1528-0020}, doi = {10.1182/blood-2013-10-532598}, author = {Conter, Valentino and Valsecchi, Maria Grazia and Parasole, Rosanna and Putti, Maria Caterina and Locatelli, Franco and Barisone, Elena and Lo Nigro, Luca and Santoro, Nicola and Aric{\`o}, Maurizio and Ziino, Ottavio and Pession, Andrea and Testi, Anna Maria and Micalizzi, Concetta and Casale, Fiorina and Zecca, Marco and Casazza, Gabriella and Tamaro, Paolo and La Barba, Gaetano and Notarangelo, Lucia Dora and Silvestri, Daniela and Colombini, Antonella and Rizzari, Carmelo and Biondi, Andrea and Masera, Giuseppe and Basso, Giuseppe} } @article {1847, title = {Marriage and parenthood among childhood cancer survivors: a report from the Italian AIEOP Off-Therapy Registry.}, journal = {Haematologica}, volume = {96}, year = {2011}, month = {2011 May}, pages = {744-51}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to describe the patterns of marriage and parenthood in a cohort of childhood cancer survivors included in the Off-Therapy Registry maintained by the Italian Association of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology.

DESIGN AND METHODS: We analyzed a cohort of 6,044 patients diagnosed with cancer between 1960 and 1998, while aged 0 to 14 years and who were 18 years old or older by December 2003. They were followed up through the regional vital statistics registers until death or the end of follow up (October 30, 2006), whichever occurred first, and their marital status and date of birth of their children were recorded. The cumulative probabilities of being married and having a first child were computed by gender and compared by tumor type within the cohort. Marriage and fertility rates (the latter defined as the number of live births per woman-year) were compared with those of the Italian population of the same age, gender, area of residence and calendar period by means of the observed to expected (O/E) ratios.

RESULTS: During the follow-up period, 4,633 (77\%) subjects had not married. The marriage O/E ratios were 0.56 (95\% CI: 0.51-0.61) and 0.70 (95\% CI: 0.65-0.76) among men and women, respectively. Overall, 263 men had 367 liveborn children, and 473 women had 697 liveborn children. The female fertility O/E ratio was 0.57 (95\% CI: 0.53-0.62) overall, and 1.08 (95\% CI: 0.99-1.17) when analyses were restricted to married/cohabiting women

CONCLUSIONS: Childhood cancer survivors are less likely to marry and to have children than the general population, confirming the life-long impact of their previous disease on their social behavior and choices. The inclusion of counseling in the strategies of management and long-term surveillance of childhood cancer patients could be beneficial to survivors as they approach adulthood.

}, keywords = {Adult, Child, Child, Preschool, Cohort Studies, Female, Follow-Up Studies, Hematologic Neoplasms, Humans, Infant, Infant, Newborn, Italy, Male, Marriage, Middle Aged, Parents, Registries, Survivors}, issn = {1592-8721}, doi = {10.3324/haematol.2010.036129}, author = {Pivetta, Emanuele and Maule, Milena M and Pisani, Paola and Zugna, Daniela and Haupt, Riccardo and Jankovic, Momcilo and Aric{\`o}, Maurizio and Casale, Fiorina and Clerico, Anna and Cordero di Montezemolo, Luca and Kiren, Valentina and Locatelli, Franco and Palumbo, Giovanna and Pession, Andrea and Pillon, Marta and Santoro, Nicola and Terenziani, Monica and Valsecchi, Maria Grazia and Dama, Elisa and Magnani, Corrado and Merletti, Franco and Pastore, Guido} }