Despite progress in the treatment of locally advanced head and neck squamous cell cancer (HNSCC), the prognosis remains dismal and 5-year survival does not exceed 40%. In metastatic and recurrent disease, in spite of the introduction of cetuximab in combination with platinum and fluorouracil, the median overall survival rate remains lower than 11 months. There are many possible reasons for these disappointing results including acquired drug resistance and tumor hypoxia. Angiogenesis plays an important role in HNSCC development and proliferation. Promising preclinical results with antiangiogenic therapies have engendered a number of clinical trials, but so far there have not been any conclusive results on the value of such treatments. This paper aims to review the role of angiogenesis in head and neck cancer and to suggest future perspectives.

Problem statement: One of the astonishing new developments in the financial community is the rise of ethical investments during the last decade. Particularly, the recent financial crisis has determined a major attention towards an ethically oriented finance based on social investments and environmental benefits that can create greater corporate crisis prevention. Because of the sheer size and importance of the ethical mutual funds, we thought to compare the ethical and non ethical mutual funds. Approach: The aim of this study was to describe the ethical and non ethical mutual funds under Italian and foreign law highlighting how some factors, such as performance, typology (equity, balanced, fixed income), geographic location, management fees, characterize these funds in different way. Results: The analysis has been carried out collecting a data set of 219 mutual funds published on www.morningstar.com. The data set is subdivided in 109 ethical mutual funds and 110 non ethical mutual funds. The study uses a multi-disciplinary approach and it is led by a Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA) which puts in evidence the principal characteristics of the mutual funds by their projection on a factorial plane. Later the multivariate analysis carries out typologies of mutual funds clusters with particular characteristics by a Cluster Analysis. The study confirmed the existence of different characteristics with reference to the ethical and non ethical mutual funds. Particularly, it puts in evidence three groups of funds which are inside homogeneous but heterogeneous between them by the characteristics considered. The first groups, defined "negative ethical performance", is composed of 152 funds. The second groups, named "positive non ethical performance", is characterized by non ethical fund (50.23% of them is present in this group). The third cluster is called "young funds" and it is composed of funds born in the period [2005][2006][2007][2008]. Conclusion: Finally, the results indicated that the ethical funds are different from the non ethical funds with regards to the performance and put in evidence that the ethical funds governed the financial crisis triggered by subprime in a better way than the non ethical funds. Consequently we argue that it is important that the interests of the financial community are addressed to the development and promotion of ethically oriented finance and of its instruments.

From February 1983 to January 1985, 497 patients with advanced breast cancer were randomly allocated to receive either epirubicin or doxorubicin in the following combination chemotherapy regimen: fluorouracil (5-FU) 500 mg/m2 intravenous (IV) on days 1 and 8; epirubicin or doxorubicin 50 mg/m2 IV on day 1; cyclophosphamide 500 mg/m2 IV on day 1 (FEC or FAC). Cycles were repeated every 21 days until progression or to cumulative doses of 700 mg/m2 for epirubicin and 550 mg/m2 for doxorubicin. Dose reductions were applied according to the standard criteria. Activity was evaluated in 443 patients (222 in the FEC arm and 221 in the FAC arm). The two experimental groups were comparable in age, performance status, menopausal status, histology, previous treatments, and site of the disease. The overall response rate (complete response and partial response [CR + PR]) was not significantly different: 53.6% for FEC and 56.5% for FAC. The median time to progression was 273 days for FEC and 314 days for FAC; the median survival time was 591 and 613 days, respectively. Leukopenia, anemia, nausea, and vomiting were significantly lower in patients treated with FEC. As for cardiotoxicity, four cases of congestive heart failure (CHF) were recorded among patients treated with FAC while only one was observed in the FEC group. These results indicate that epirubicin in a combination chemotherapy regimen is as active as doxorubicin and is significantly less toxic.

Additional Supporting Information may be found in the online version of this article.Impact of HR expression on the outcomes of metastatic HER2+ breast cancer treated with novel anti-HER2 agents Int.Cancer Therapy and Prevention other agents (7 vs. 6 months, p = 0.03). There was no PFS2 gain in patients with tumors expressing both hormonal receptors (HRs; p = 0.17), while a trend emerged for tumors with one HR (p = 0.05). Conversely, PFS2 gain was significant in HRsnegative tumors (p = 0.04). Median overall survival (mOS) was 74 months, with no significant differences by IHC subtypes. Survival rates at 2 and 3 years in patients treated with T-DM1 in second-line after pertuzumab were significantly lower compared to pertuzumab-naïve patients (p = 0.01). When analyzed by IHC subtype, the outcome was confirmed if both HRs or no HRs were expressed (p = 0.02 and p = 0.006, respectively). Our results confirm that HRs expression impacts the clinical behavior and novel treatment-related outcomes of HER2-positive tumors when treatment sequences are considered. Moreover, multivariate analysis showed that HRs expression had no effect on PFS and OS. Further studies are warranted to confirm our findings and clarify the interplay between HER2 and estrogen receptor pathways in HER2-positive (mbc) patients. What's new?About half of breast cancers positive for human epidermal growth factor (HER2) also express hormone receptors but the impact of hormone receptor status on the success of HER2-directed treatments is not fully explored. Here the authors retrospectively assessed tumor behavior and treatment outcomes in 738 women with HER2+ metastatic breast cancer treated with new generation anti-HER2 agents. Distinct hormone receptor expression patterns significantly affected the progression free and overall survival, justifying further studies to define optimal treatment regimens and the interplay between hormone receptor and HER2 signaling.

Gli autori descrivono i risultati terapeutici ottenuti in 20 pazienti colpiti da metastasi ossee secondarie a diverse affezioni neoplastiche, trattati con calcitonina sintetica di salmone. Buona è stata l'azione sul sintomo dolore e sulla ripresa della funzionalità motoria, ottima la tollerabilità. Il ruolo protettivo del farmaco è stato riscontrato inoltre in un effetto stabilizzante, cioè non progressione, della maggior parte delle lesioni trattate (riscontro radiologico) e nell'azione equilibratrice sui valori di calcemia e di altri parametri ematochimici, anche in progressione di malattia.