This meta-analysis provided evidence in support of a moderate role of probiotics in the prevention of atopic dermatitis and IgE-associated atopic dermatitis in infants. The favorable effect was similar regardless of the time of probiotic use (pregnancy or early life) or the subject(s) receiving probiotics (mother, child, or both).

Scarce information is available, particularly from Europe, on why smokers quit. We analyzed this issue in a large dataset of Italian ex-smokers. Six population-based surveys on smoking were annually conducted in 2005-2010 on a representative sample of the Italian adult population, which included more than 3000 participants each year. A specific question on the main reason for quitting smoking was answered by a total of 3075 ex-smokers (1936 men and 1139 women). Overall, 43.2% of ex-smokers mentioned a current health condition as the main reason to stop smoking, 31.9% stopped to avoid future health problems, 6.3% stopped because of pregnancy or child birth, 4.0% because of imposition by the partner/family, 3.7% because of a physician's recommendation, 3.0% because of the economic cost, 0.5% because of smoking bans, and 4.6% because of other reasons. Statistically significant differences in the motivation to quit smoking have been found according to sex, age, social class, and smoking history. The majority of ex-smokers quit because of tobacco-related health conditions. Only a minority of ex-smokers quit to avoid future illness. Physicians should be encouraged to assist smokers to quit. The current prices of cigarettes in Italy are not sufficiently high to discourage people from continuing smoking.

Cardiotoxicity of trastuzumab varies considerably across subgroups of patients. The long-term safety profile was less favorable than in the largest clinical trial. Strategies to reduce cardiotoxicity in high-risk women should be investigated.

A number of co-aggregations of cancers at different sites has been reported, including recognized syndromes (e.g., Li-Fraumeni), and aggregations between cancers at breast, stomach and ovary, between cancers at prostate, urinary tract and other sites, as well as between several tobacco-related neoplasms. In a network of case-control studies from Italy and Switzerland, including more than 12,000 cases of 13 different cancers, after controlling for multiple testing, significant associations emerged between oral and pharyngeal cancer and family history of laryngeal cancer (relative risk (RR): 3.3); esophageal cancer and family history of oral and pharyngeal cancer RR: 4.1; breast cancer and family history of colorectal cancer (RR: 1.5) and of hemolymphopoietic cancers (RR: 1.7); ovarian cancer and family history of breast cancer (RR: 2.3); and prostate cancer and family history of bladder cancer (RR: 3.4). Shared exposures to environmental factors within families account for some of the observed aggregations, together with heritable, and hence, genetic factors.

There was no significant weekend effect in the mortality of patients admitted for UGIB, irrespective of the source of bleeding. Increased attention to older patients presenting with a more severe clinical picture is needed to prolong survival and prevent rebleeding.

Indication for the use of trastuzumab was given in Italy in 2000 for the treatment of HER-2 metastatic breast cancer and in 2006 for early stage breast cancer. Information on trastuzumab use and on its possible variation with age in Italy is however limited. Using health care administrative databases, we evaluated the prevalence of the use of trastuzumab, and the probability for administration since the first hospitalization for breast cancer in various age groups, in two series of Italian women diagnosed with breast cancer in the Lombardy region (2004-2009) and in the Palermo district. The ratio between trastuzumab users and patients with a hospitalization for breast cancer increased from 2.9% in 2004 up to 17.2% in 2009 in Lombardy. Patients aged <65 years were more frequent users (9.6%) compared to those aged ≥ 75 years (1.3%). Similarly, in the Palermo district the ratio increased from 10.6% in 2006 to 28.5% in 2008, with subjects aged <65 years more frequently using trastuzumab (19.1%), than subjects aged ≥ 75 years (6.2%). The age ratio between younger and older patients decreased over time in both settings (from 15 in 2004 to 10.2 in 2006, and 5.2 in 2009 in Lombardy, and from 4.0 in 2006 to 2.3 in 2009 in the Palermo district). The proportion of breast cancer patients using trastuzumab increased over time both in Lombardy and in Palermo district, though geographical differences persisted. Younger breast cancers patients were more likely to receive a trastuzumab treatment than elderly ones, but the difference declined over calendar period.

ab a a ab a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a ab a a a a a a a a a ab a a a a a a b b a a a a ab a a a a a a b a b a a a b a a a a a a a a a b a a b b a a b a a a a a a a ab a a a a a a a a a a a ab a b a ab a a a a a a a a a ba b a a a ab a a b a a a b a a a ab a a b a ba a a a ab a a a a a ab a a a a a b a a a a a a a a a b a a a a a aba a a a a a ab a a b a a a a ba a a a a ab a a ab a a a a a a b a b a a b ba a a ab a a a a ab a a a b a a b a a a a b a