Gianni Bisogno

..Undifferentiated (embryonal) sarcoma of the liver (UESL) is a rare childhood hepatic tumor, and it is generally considered an aggressive neoplasm with an unfavorable prognosis...

..To investigate whether this is true for adolescents with rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS), the results obtained in patients enrolled in protocols run by the Italian Soft Tissue Sarcoma Committee (STSC) were analyzed...

..We analyzed the long-term results of the RMS 79 protocol to investigate the type and impact of such events...

..Second-line treatment is not standardized as for newly diagnosed tumors. We evaluated the role of surgery on local relapses in a series of patients with RMS...

..Esthesioneuroblastoma (ENB) is a rare, aggressive tumor with no established treatment in children. We analyzed a series of pediatric ENB patients with the aim of improving our knowledge of this disease...

..Fine-needle aspiration cytology is a safe and useful tool for the diagnosis of pediatric patients with MIFS and is important for an accurate and precise preoperative workup to optimize subsequent management and treatment...

..Alternatively, they could represent an unrecognized subgroup of tumors with spindle cell morphology, bearing the same translocation as desmoplastic small round cell tumor, but characterized by a more favorable clinical course...

..Parameningeal rhabdomyosarcoma (PM-RMS) is a rare, highly malignant pediatric tumor arising from locations adjacent to the meninges, from where it can spread intracranially...

..A careful evaluation of clinical, pathological, and molecular findings is the key to a correct diagnostic approach of pediatric tumors...

..Thymic epithelial tumours (thymoma and carcinoma) are exceptionally rare in children. We describe a national multicentre series with a view to illustrating their clinical behaviour and the results of treatment...

..The objective of the study was to identify morphologic or immunohistochemical prognostic markers and the possible pathogenic role of human herpes virus 8 (HHV-8)...

..Our purpose was the evaluation of diagnostic accuracy, limits, and different role of IOE in pediatric pathology...

..Aim of the study was to report the clinical findings and results observed in a series of patients with testicular SCST, registered in a multi-institutional Italian network on rare tumors in children and adolescents...

..To evaluate the effect of radiotherapy (RT) in association with complete second look operation, histologically confirmed, on outcome of patients with IRS Gr.III non-alveolar RMS...

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..The RMS4.99 study was designed to explore the role of multiple sequential high-dose chemotherapy cycles administered early in the treatment of children with metastatic rhabdomyosarcoma...

..Irinotecan (CPT-11) is a novel antineoplastic agent that takes effect by inhibiting topoisomerase I. The Italian Soft Tissue Sarcoma (STS) Committee performed a multiinstitutional Phase II study to evaluate its effect on STS...

..pylori-negative patients. Given that spontaneous improvements in platelet count can occur in children with cITP, we were unable to demonstrate that H. pylori plays a major role in cITP occurring in pediatric age...

..The authors objective was to evaluate clinical features and treatment results observed in a series of Italian patients over a 24-year period...

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..In the current study, the authors aim to evaluate clinical features and treatment results observed in patients from the German and Italian studies who had nonmetastatic abdominal rhabdomyosarcomas (RMS)...

..We report the contributions that different therapeutic options made to the treatment of a child with one of these aggressive tumors...

..A small proportion of SMNs are soft tissue sarcomas (STS), whose prognosis is generally thought to be poor, though publications on such patients' treatment and outcome is limited...

..To evaluate the feasibility of combining Doxo with the well established ifosfamide, vincristine, and actinomycin D (IVA) regimen, the Italian STS Committee performed a pilot study on a series of children with metastatic STS...

..It is usually an incidental finding after a laparotomy for appendectomy, with a frequency of 2 to 5 cases per 1000 appendectomies. The experience with 14 cases of carcinoid reported in the appendix is described...

..The authors compared patients who underwent this procedure, according to the protocol guidelines, with those who did not...

..Malignant pancreatic tumors are exceedingly rare in pediatric age and their clinical features and treatment usually go unappreciated by most pediatric oncologists and surgeons...

..Taken together, our data provide evidence that IGFBP2 contributes to tumor progression and that it could be used as a marker to better classify clinical and biological risks in RMS...

..We describe five patients who developed VOD after chemotherapy for Wilms tumor (WT) and evaluate the role of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) and defibrotide for diagnosis and therapy of VOD, respectively...

..To assess the value of chemotherapy and radiotherapy in children with malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors (MPNSTs) and to identify risk factors associated with outcome...

..Adolescents and their families use internet to obtain information on pediatric oncological diseases...

..We report our experience with topical application of mitomycin-C in a female with vaginal stricture secondary to brachytherapy...

..To identify the prognostic factors, treatment, and outcome of children affected by renal cell carcinoma (RCC)...

..The aim of this article is to study the prognostic significance of local lymph node involvement in pediatric RCC and the role of retroperitoneal lymph node dissection (RLND) at diagnosis...

..It is hoped that the combination of vinorelbine and low-dose cyclophosphamide can be used as a maintenance regimen in an upcoming European trial involving high-risk patients with rhabdomyosarcoma...

..We report on the Italian Cooperative Group's 20-year study of 50 children with RMS who were age < 1 year at diagnosis...

..Controlled clinical trials are needed to evaluate the efficacy and long-term side-effects of rituximab in this group of patients...

..We report on a series of 28 pediatric patients treated from 1980 to 2000 by the Soft Tissue Sarcoma Italian Cooperative Group and the German Cooperative Group...

..We report on a series of 18 children who had malignant vascular tumors, treated from 1980 to 2000 by the Italian and German Soft Tissue Sarcoma Cooperative Group...

..To identify risk factors associated with outcome in children with metastatic rhabdomyosarcoma in a large cohort of patients..

..The outcome of patients with non-extremity synovial sarcoma (SS) is generally worse than that of patients with limb tumours...

..The Italian and German Cooperative Groups reviewed their data-bases, analyzing patients classified as group I-II, with high-grade tumor (G3) larger than 5 cm in size...

..A larger cohort of cancer children is needed to confirm the efficacy of the HUI2 questionnaire in distinguishing groups of children on this basis by disease category...

..To evaluate the prognostic factors in a series of children affected by pleuropulmonary blastoma (PPB)...

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..05). No major infections were reported during follow-up. Our data show the efficacy and tolerability of rituximab in young children with refractory symptomatic ITP. Nonrelapsed patients showed a more prolonged B-cell depletion...

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..The clinical findings and outcome in 43 children and adolescents with NF1 treated for STS in the Italian protocols between 1988 and 2004 are reported...

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..Further studies are needed to better define the clinical behavior and biology of the proximal-type variant of ES...

..We evaluated an intensified chemotherapy strategy in children with Wilms tumor who relapsed with high-risk features...

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..These data may be useful in planning risk-adapted salvage protocols...

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..It represents a safe long-term option and offers good quality of life after disfiguring surgery. In fact, patients are able to void spontaneously through the urethra...

..Surgery should be the treatment of choice, because the efficacy of chemotherapy and radiotherapy is probably reduced by the high amount of differentiated and mature tissue which characterizes this neoplasm...

..This experience demonstrates the feasibility of a national multidisciplinary cooperation on rare paediatric malignancies and suggests that international studies could be realised...