A. Di Legge

Transvaginal ultrasonography and magnetic resonance imaging for assessment of presence, size and extent of invasive cervical cancer

To prospectively assess the diagnostic performance of transvaginal ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), using histology as the gold standard, with regard to the presence, size, and extent of invasive cervical cancers and the detection of metastatic lymph nodes.

Ovarian cancer arising in endometrioid cysts: ultrasound findings

To describe sonographic characteristics of malignant transformation in endometrioid cysts.

Phase II study of NGR-hTNF in combination with doxorubicin in relapsed ovarian cancer patients

Background:The NGR-hTNF (asparagine–glycine–arginine–human tumour necrosis factor) is able to promote antitumour immune responses and to improve the intratumoural doxorubicin uptake by selectively damaging tumour blood vessels.Methods:Patients progressing after ⩾1 platinum/taxane-based regimen received NGR-hTNF 0.8 μg m−2 and doxorubicin 60 mg m−2 every 3 weeks. Primary endpoint was a Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors-defined response rate with a target of more than 6 out of 37 responding patients.Results:A total of 37 patients with platinum-free interval lower than 6 months (PFI<6; n=25), or between 6 and 12 months (PFI=6–12; n=12) were enrolled. Median baseline peripheral blood lymphocyte count (PBLC) was 1.6 per ml (interquartile range, 1.2–2.1). In all, 18 patients (49%) received more than 6 cycles. Febrile neutropaenia was registered in one patient (3%). Among 35 assessable patients, 8 (23%; 95% CI 12–39%) had partial response (2 with PFI<6; 6 with PFI=6–12) and 15 (43%) had stable disease (10 with PFI<6; 5 with PFI=6–12). Median progression-free survival (PFS) was 5.0 months for all patients, 3.8 months for patients with PFI<6, and 7.8 months for patients with PFI=6–12. Median overall survival (OS) was 17.0 months. Patients with baseline PBLC higher than the first quartile had improved PFS (P=0.01) and OS (P=0.001).Conclusion:Tolerability and activity of this combination warrant further randomised testing in patients with PFI<6. The role of PBLC as a blood-based biomarker deserves further investigation.

Ultrasound evaluation of intra‐abdominal sites of disease to predict likelihood of suboptimal cytoreduction in advanced ovarian cancer: a prospective study

To analyze in advanced ovarian cancer patients the ability of ultrasound to evaluate the extent of intra‐abdominal disease and to predict the likelihood of suboptimal cytoreduction.

Early-stage cervical cancer: agreement between ultrasound and histopathological findings with regard to tumor size and extent of local disease

To determine the agreement between ultrasound and histological examination of the cervix in patients with early stage cervical cancer with regard to tumor size and local extent of the disease.

The ‘lead vessel’: a vascular ultrasound feature of metastasis in the ovaries

To investigate, in a series of metastatic and primary invasive ovarian lesions examined by color Doppler, the prevalence of a main peripheral vessel penetrating into the central part of the ovarian mass with a tree‐shaped morphology, defined as the ‘lead vessel’.

Sonographic characteristics of squamous cell cancer and adenocarcinoma of the uterine cervix.

The objective of this study was to describe the sonographic characteristics of squamous cell cancer (SCC) and adenocarcinoma (AC) of the cervix using transvaginal ultrasound.

Lesion size affects diagnostic performance of IOTA logistic regression models, IOTA simple rules and risk of malignancy index in discriminating between benign and malignant adnexal masses

To estimate the ability to discriminate between benign and malignant adnexal masses of different size using: subjective assessment, two International Ovarian Tumor Analysis (IOTA) logistic regression models (LR1 and LR2), the IOTA simple rules and the risk of malignancy index (RMI).

Intra- and interobserver agreement with regard to describing adnexal masses using International Ovarian Tumor Analysis terminology: reproducibility study involving seven observers.

To estimate intraobserver repeatability and interobserver agreement in assessing the presence of papillary projections in adnexal masses and in classifying adnexal masses using the International Ovarian Tumor Analysis terminology for ultrasound examiners with different levels of experience. We also aimed to identify ultrasound findings that cause confusion and might be interpreted differently by different observers, and to determine if repeatability and agreement change after consensus has been reached on how to interpret ‘problematic’ ultrasound images.

Sonographic features of primary ovarian fibrosarcoma: a report of two cases

Two cases of primary cellular fibroblastic tumor of the ovary are described, which presented a challenging clinical and histopathological differential diagnosis of primary ovarian fibrosarcoma and mitotically active cellular fibroma. On sonographic evaluation they both appeared as solid lesions with irregular margins, and on histological analysis both showed a count of 5–7 mitotic figures per 10 high‐power fields. Histopathological examination of the first case was characterized by the presence of hemorrhage, necrosis and severe nuclear atypia, with a metastatic peritoneal lesion, and the eventual diagnosis was primary ovarian fibrosarcoma. The second case, however, was diagnosed as a ‘mitotically active cellular fibroma’ owing to the lack of substantial severe cellular atypia, hemorrhage or necrosis. We speculate that ovarian fibrosarcoma at the preoperative examination might be considered in the differential diagnosis whenever a unilateral, heterogeneous, largely round solid ovarian lesion is detected. Copyright