Introduction: the causal linkCardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are a major cause of morbidity and mortality throughout the world. In the United States, CVDs affect many racial or ethnic groups, and this fact has an extremely high cost that is estimated around $200 billion annually in healthcare services, drugs, and loss of productivity. Much of this burden is due to insufficient implementation of prevention strategies and poor control of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk factors in many adults (1,2). According to World Health Organization data, smoking determines 10% of all CVDs (3). Tobacco smoking usage causes approximately 6 million death per year throughout the world, in the United States almost 500,000 deaths can be attributed to smoking and about 10% of these deaths are caused from second-hand smoke exposure. Epidemiologic studies have supported the assumption that cigarette smoking increases the incidence of myocardial infarction and fatal coronary artery diseases (4). The increased risk of cardiovascular events has also been shown for low-tar cigarettes and smokeless tobacco. Even passive smoking is responsible for a 30% increased risk of ASCVD, a little less than half of the risk increase in active smokers that is around 80% (5,6). Ever since the Framingham study, the epidemiologic investigations have tried to identify people with a high likelihood for a future cardiovascular events in order to make actionable interventions to reduce the risk. The concept of "risk factors" was made popular by Kannel et Review Article on Improving Outcomes in Lung Cancer Through Early Diagnosis and Smoking Cessation

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Warm-type idiopathic autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA) is a relatively common hematologic disorder resulting from autoantibody production against red blood cells. Steroids represent the first-line therapeutic option, and immunosuppressive agents as well as splenectomy are used for refractory cases. Recently, the anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody rituximab has been shown to control autoimmune hemolysis in patients with refractory chronic disease. We report results from a retrospective analysis of 11 adult patients receiving rituximab for steroid-refractory AIHA of the warm type at a mean age of 55 yr (range 23-81 yr). All patients were given methyl-prednisolone as first-line treatment and some of them also received azathioprine and intravenous high-dose immunoglobulins. One patient underwent splenectomy. All patients were considered refractory to steroids and/or immunosuppressive drugs and all were then given weekly rituximab (375 mg/m(2)) for four consecutive weeks. An increase in hemoglobin (Hgb) levels in response to rituximab, with a mean increment of 3.3 g/dL (95% CI 2.1-4.4), was observed in all cases. Four patients required packed red cell transfusions before starting rituximab and all became transfusion-free. At a mean follow-up of 604 d (range 30-2884 d) since the treatment of AIHA with rituximab, all patients are alive, eight (73%) of them in complete remission (CR) and three (27%) in partial remission (PR). A moderate hemolysis still persisted in six (54%) patients. In conclusion, our experience clearly demonstrates that anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody rituximab is an effective and safe alternative treatment option for idiopathic AIHA, in particular, for steroid-refractory disease.

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Cancer patients are at particular risk from COVID-19 since they usually present multiple risk factors for this infection such as older age, immunosuppressed state, comorbidities (e.g., chronic lung disease, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases), need of frequent hospital admissions and visits. Therefore, in the COVID era, oncologists should carefully weigh risks/benefits when planning cancer therapies and follow-up appointments. Recently, several scientific associations developed specific guidelines or recommendations to help physicians in their clinical practice. This review focuses on main available guidelines/ recommendations regarding the cancer patient management during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Abstract:The discovery of epidermal growth factor receptor activating mutations (EGFR Mut+) has determined a paradigm shift in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). In several phase III studies, patients with NSCLC EGFR Mut+ achieved a significantly better progression-free survival when treated with a first-(gefitinib, erlotinib) or second-generation (afatinib) EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) compared with standard chemotherapy. However, despite these impressive results, most patients with NSCLC EGFR Mut+ develop acquired resistance to TKIs. This review will discuss both the mechanisms of resistance to TKIs and the therapeutic strategies to overcome resistance, including emerging data on third-generation TKIs.

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Aim: At present three immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), two anti-PD-1 (nivolumab and pembrolizumab) and one anti-PD-L1 (atezolizumab) can be used in pretreated non-small-cell lung cancer patients. The aim of this meta-analysis is an indirect comparison between anti-PD-1 and anti-PD-L1 inhibitors. Methods: Seven studies (>4000 patients) were considered. Results: Considering the overall survival ICIs showed very robust efficacy over docetaxel, while in terms of progression-free survival the therapy with ICIs is slightly favored. Anti-PD-1 gives a more significant benefit than anti-PD-L1; however, excluding the KEYNOTE 010 trial that enrolled only PD-L1-positive patients, the subgroup difference remains only in terms of progression-free survival. Conclusion: This meta-analysis confirms the superiority of ICIs over docetaxel in pretreated non-small-cell lung cancer patients and would indicate a slight benefit from anti-PD-1 than from anti-PD-L1 inhibitors, always keeping in mind the possible biases of this indirect comparison.