@article {1986, title = {High prevalence of serum antibodies reacting with simian virus 40 capsid protein mimotopes in patients affected by malignant pleural mesothelioma.}, journal = {Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A}, volume = {109}, year = {2012}, month = {2012 Oct 30}, pages = {18066-71}, abstract = {

Human malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is considered a rare tumor, but recent estimations indicate that one-quarter million people will die of this neoplasm in Europe in the next three decades. The mineral asbestos is considered the main causative agent of this neoplasm. MPM is largely unresponsive to conventional chemotherapy/radiotherapy. In addition to asbestos exposure, genetic predisposition to asbestos carcinogenesis and to simian virus (SV)40 infection has also been suggested. SV40 is a DNA tumor virus found in some studies to be associated at high prevalence with MPM. SV40 sequences have also been detected, although at a lower prevalence than in MPM, in blood specimens from healthy donors. However, some studies have failed to reveal SV40 footprints in MPM and its association with this neoplasm. These conflicting results indicate the need for further investigations with new approaches. We report on the presence of antibodies in serum samples from patients affected by MPM that specifically react with two different SV40 mimotopes. The two SV40 peptides used in indirect ELISAs correspond to viral capsid proteins. ELISA with the two SV40 mimotopes gave overlapping results. Our data indicate that in serum samples from MPM-affected patients (n = 97), the prevalence of antibodies against SV40 viral capsid protein antigens is significantly higher (26\%, P = 0.043) than in the control group (15\%) represented by healthy subjects (n = 168) with the same median age (66 y) and sex. Our results suggest that SV40 is associated with a subset of MPM and circulates in humans.

}, keywords = {Amino Acid Sequence, Antibodies, Viral, Capsid Proteins, Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay, Female, Humans, Male, Mesothelioma, Molecular Sequence Data, Pleural Neoplasms, Pregnancy, Simian virus 40}, issn = {1091-6490}, doi = {10.1073/pnas.1213238109}, author = {Mazzoni, Elisa and Corallini, Alfredo and Cristaudo, Alfonso and Taronna, Angelo and Tassi, Gianfranco and Manfrini, Marco and Comar, Manola and Bovenzi, Massimo and Guaschino, Roberto and Vaniglia, Francesca and Magnani, Corrado and Casali, Ferruccio and Rezza, Giovanni and Barbanti-Brodano, Giuseppe and Martini, Fernanda and Tognon, Mauro G} } @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} }