•This systematic review and meta-analysis was performed in order to to clarify if CD68+ and CD163+ tumor associated macrophages have a role as prognostic factors in patients suffering for squamous ...cell carcinoma of the head and neck.•The immunohistochemical analysis of CD68+ macrophages has not prognostic utility in patients with SCCHN.•Conversely, CD163+ macrophages showed promising results for a future clinical use, however further well-standardized studies should be performed to confirm such preliminary results.
Tumor associated macrophages (TAMs) are among the most abundant cells of the tumor microenvironment. Several studies have been performed to investigate whether TAM markers, namely CD68 and CD163, could serve as prognostic factors in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN). The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to synthetize the available evidence of the literature about the role of CD68+ and CD163+ TAMs as prognostic factors in SCCHN.
This systematic review was performed according to the guidelines reported in the Cochrane Handbook and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐Analyses (PRISMA) statement. Meta-analysis of overall survival, disease-free survival and progression-free survival was performed using the inverse of variance test. A random- or a fixed- effect model was used on the basis of the presence of heterogeneity. Risk of bias assessment and subgroup analysis were also performed.
High stromal expression of CD163+ TAMs correlated with both poor overall survival (HR, 2.26; 95% CI: 1.47, 3.47; P < 0.001) and progression-free survival (HR, 2.29; 95% CI: 1.11, 4.71; P = 0.03). Conversely, abundance of CD68+ TAMs was not associated with overall survival (HR, 1.25; 95% CI: 0.86, 1.80; P = 0.24) and disease-free survival (HR, 2.06; 95% CI: 0.84, 5.05; P = 0.11).
Findings from this study revealed that whilst IHC analysis of the generic macrophage marker CD68+ has no prognostic utility in patients with SCCHN, the M2-like marker CD163+ predicts poor prognosis. Our data suggest that assessment of CD163+ TAMs in SCCHN has potential for future clinical use. Further well-standardized studies should be performed to confirm these results.
Introduction
The aim of this systematic review was to analyse current evidence regarding differences in early and late implant failure as well as in marginal bone level (MBL) changes between ...submerged and non‐submerged healed dental implants.
Methods
PUBMED, SCOPUS, EMBASE and Web of Science databases were searched for prospective randomized and non‐randomized controlled studies addressing direct comparison between submerged and non‐submerged implant healing, without performing immediate loading. Early and late implant failure (before or after 6 months from implant placement, respectively) together with MBL were the investigated outcomes. Risk of bias assessment was performed using the Cochrane Collaboration Tool for Randomized clinical trials. Meta‐analysis was performed and the power of the meta‐analytic findings determined by trial sequential analysis (TSA).
Results
Eleven studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in the review. Results of this systematic review revealed a small higher rate (2%) of early implant failure when a non‐submerged healing approach is performed. Late implant failure appears not to be different in submerged or non‐submerged healing, but the power of evidence, as determined by TSA, is not high. If we consider MBL changes at 1 year from implant load, it seems that non‐submerged healing may better preserve marginal bone, although with a small effect size (0.13 mm).
Conclusions
Implants placed with a non‐submerged technique have a higher risk (2%) of early failure. The power of the evidence about the effects on MBL is low, but present results seem to favour non‐submerged healing, although with a very small effect size.
Alveolar ridge preservation (ARP) techniques aim to reduce resorption after tooth extraction. The combination of a graft material covered with a resorbable membrane represents one of the most common ...strategies performed in the clinical practice. The aim of this systematic review is to analyze evidence regarding potential benefits of ARP procedures performed with allogenic/xenogenic grafts in combination with a resorbable membrane coverage in comparison with spontaneous healing.
Electronic databases were screened independently to select studies suitable for inclusion in this review. Horizontal ridge width reduction (HRWR) and vertical ridge height reduction (VRHR) were investigated as primary outcomes and volume changes (VC) as a secondary outcome. Meta-analysis was performed using the inverse of variance test with a random effect model. Adjustment for Type I and II errors and analysis of the power of evidence was performed with trial sequential analysis (TSA).
Seven studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in the quantitative synthesis. Meta-analysis revealed that the combination therapy resulted in a lower rate of resorption for both HRWR (-2.19 mm, 95% confidence interval CI: -2.67 to -1.71 mm) and VRHR (-1.72 mm, 95% CI: -2.14 to -1.30 mm). For VC no meta-analysis was performed due to insufficient data. Analysis of the power of the evidence performed with TSA showed that the number of both studies and sockets analyzed is sufficient to validate such findings, despite the high rate of heterogeneity.
Use of bone graft covered by a resorbable membrane can decrease the rate of alveolar ridge horizontal and vertical resorption after tooth extraction. The power and reliability of the evidence is strong enough to confirm the above-mentioned findings, despite the high rate of heterogeneity of included studies.
In recent scientific literature, oral infections and systemic manifestations, or correlations between oral health and systemic diseases are a topic of discussion.
is one of the bacteria implicated in ...the biofilm formation of bacterial plaque, and plays an important role in the progression of periodontal disease. In this systematic review authors have evaluated the literature of the last 10 years on
and all the systemic implications proven. This study therefore evaluates all the districts of the organism in which this bacterium may have implications. From the results it emerges that
has implications in the onset of different systemic pathologies, including rheumatoid arthritis, cardiovascular pathologies, and neurodegenerative pathologies. Surely, understanding the mechanisms of diffusion of this bacterium, it would be possible to prevent a series of pathologies. Thus, putting the dentist clinician at the center of prevention for these diseases.
The advent of new technologies in the field of medicine and dentistry is giving improvements that lead the clinicians to have materials and procedures able to improve patients' quality of life. In ...dentistry, the last digital techniques offer a fully digital computerized workflow that does not include the standard multiple traditional phases. The purpose of this study is to evaluate all clinical trials and clinical randomized trials related to the digital or dental impression technique in prosthetic dentistry trying to give the readers global information about advantages and disadvantages of each procedure. Data collection was conducted in the main scientific search engines, including articles from the last 10 years, in order to obtain results that do not concern obsolete impression techniques. Elsevier, Pubmed and Embase have been screened as sources for performing the research. The results data demonstrated how the working time appears to be improved with digital workflow, but without a significant result (P = 0.72596). The papers have been selected following the Population Intervention Comparison Outcome (PICO) question, which is related to the progress on dental impression materials and technique. The comparison between dentists or practitioners with respect to classic impression procedures, and students open to new device and digital techniques seem to be the key factor on the final impression technique choice. Surely, digital techniques will end up supplanting the analogical ones altogether, improving the quality of oral rehabilitations, the economics of dental practice and also the perception by our patients.
Curcumin (diferuloylmethane) is a polyphenol derived from the Curcuma longa plant. Curcumin has been used extensively in Ayurvedic medicine, as it is nontoxic and exhibits a variety of therapeutic ...properties, including antioxidant, analgesic, anti-inflammatory and antiseptic activities. Recently, certain studies have indicated that curcumin may exert anticancer effects in a variety of biological pathways involved in mutagenesis, apoptosis, tumorigenesis, cell cycle regulation and metastasis. The present study reviewed previous studies in the literature, which support the therapeutic activity of curcumin in cancer. In addition, the present study elucidated a number of the challenges concerning the use of curcumin as an adjuvant chemotherapeutic agent. All the studies reviewed herein suggest that curcumin is able to exert anti-inflammatory, antiplatelet, antioxidative, hepatoprotective and antitumor activities, particularly against cancers of the liver, skin, pancreas, prostate, ovary, lung and head neck, as well as having a positive effect in the treatment of arthritis.
Background
Survival rate for oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma (OTSCC) is still poor and, despite Tumor–Node–Metastasis staging system has been recently updated, patients included under the same ...stage still show difference in prognosis. Perineural invasion (PNI) emerged to be an indicator of tumor aggressive behavior and unfortunate events. In this study, we investigate the clinic and prognostic value of PNI in a cohort of OTSCC patients.
Methods
About 200 patients with OTSCC were retrospectively evaluated the presence of PNI. PNI was furtherly descripted as uni‐/multifocal and as intra‐/peritumoral. Disease‐Specific and Relapse‐Free Survival (DSS; RFS) were estimated; moreover, we included PNI in the current AJCC 8th Staging System, improving the prognostication model.
Results
Perineural invasion was found in 40.5% of patients. Intratumoral PNI predicted patients at high risk of being diagnosed with lymph–node metastasis. Tumors with positive PNI reported a worse DSS (Hazard Ratio=1.878, p‐value = 0.008). Moreover, patients exhibiting both multifocal intra‐ and peritumoral PNI reported poorest DSS (Hazard Ratio = 2.409, p‐value = 0.010). Patients were reclassified in a new staging system in case of multifocal PNI, providing better stratification capacity.
Conclusions
Perineural invasion might serve as an additional prognostic factor in OTSCC, and by integrating PNI in the staging system, further improvements in prognostication might be reached.
Inflammation seems to play a critical role in the development and progression of different cancers. Neutrophil‐to‐lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is an easily measurable marker of systemic inflammation. The ...purpose of this systematic review and meta‐analysis was to evaluate the prognostic role of the pre‐treatment NLR, in terms of overall survival (OS) and disease‐free survival (DFS), in patients with primary head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) treated by surgery alone or followed by chemo/radiotherapy. This systematic review was performed according to the guidelines reported in the Cochrane Handbook and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐Analysis (PRISMA) statement. Meta‐analysis of OS and DFS was performed using the inverse of variance test. Fixed‐effect models were used on the basis of the presence of heterogeneity. Risk of bias assessment and trial sequential analysis (TSA) were also performed; the quality of the evidence was evaluated via the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach. The analysis revealed that a higher value of pre‐treatment NLR correlates with a statistically significant decrease of OS (HR, 1.56; 95% CI: 1.35, 1.80; p < 0.00001) and a lower DFS (HR, 1.64; 95% CI: 1.30, 2.07; p < 0.0001) in HNSCC patients.
In the present paper, the author aims at laying the foundations of a symbolics of technical gesture, according to the thesis that symbolic faculty is another face of the technological one, and that ...they are both in truth two sides of the same coin. Accordingly, the author suggests to rename the whole dimension as “meta-environmentality”. The analysis is carried out on the basis of a specific comparison between Cassirer’s definition of “animal symbolicum” and its scientific consistence in the light of modern palaeontology. “Animal symbolicum” is here compared with Leroi-Gourhan’s homo technologicus, and Cassirer’s ideas on human identity tested starting from paleoanthropological data. The result of the inquiry lead us to recognize the urgency of integrating Cassirer’s argument with the primacy of the technological capacity, but a deep analysis of the characterizing attributes of the latter compels us to uphold the symbolic attitude of the technological dimension. The author then sketches a basic description ofthe guidelines of a symbolic theory of technology (especially §§ 6-7), and tries to show how the basic elements of such an approach were familiar both to Cassirer and Leroi-Gourhan. As a consequence of the whole theory, the author elaborates a chronological analysis of human identity, whose basic result is the determination of the future as main temporal dimension of human acting.
The purpose of the present study was to see if there is a correlation between the effect of interferons in crevicular fluid and periodontitis, evaluating literature. Interferon gamma (IFN-γ) is an ...immunoregulatory cytokine that, when activated by its receptor, plays an important role in the activation of inflammatory processes, which are the basis of periodontal disease. Stem cells in the periodontal ligament, like stem cells from other tissues, have immunomodulatory capacity and are regulated by some cytokines such as interferon-γ (IFN-γ). The study searched MEDLINE databases from 2008 to 2018. Clinical human in vitro and in vivo studies had reported a correlation between interferon and periodontitis. The initial search obtained 359 citations. After screening and determination of eligibility, nine articles were included in the review. Significant (
< 0.05) increases in
gene expression were observed in some studies in the chronic periodontitis group. In some cases it was suggested that molecular mechanisms underlie the possible roles of IFN-γ in the inhibition of osteoclastogenesis. Neopterin belongs to the chemical group known as pteridines. It is synthesised by human macrophages upon stimulation with the interferon-gamma. Neopterin concentrations in body fluids are high in the case of infections, immune diseases or graft rejection. In the chronic periodontitis group, this marker is significantly higher. These studies underlined the clinical evidence between interferons in the crevicular fluid and inflammatory response of periodontitis. However, there is a lack of scientific evidence that could lead the clinician to an interferon-modulated therapy because of periodontitis.
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