Diagnosis and treatment of pancreas divisum: A literature review

Background:Pancreas divisum is a congenital embryological disease caused by a lack of fusion between the ventral and dorsal pancreatic ducts in the early stages of embryogenesis.Recurrent acute pancreatitis,chronic pancreatitis or chronic abdominal pain are the main clinical syndromes at presentation and occur in only 5%of the patients with pancreas divisum.This review aimed to discuss diagnosis and treatment strategies in patients with symptomatic pancreas divisum.Data sources:We report a literature review from 1990 up to January 2018 to explore the various diagnostic modalities and surgical techniques and results reported in the surgical treatment of pancreas divisum.Results:There are limited reports available on this topic in the literature.We analyzed and described the main indications in the treatment of pancreas divisum,focusing on surgical treatment and a discussion of the different approaches.Furthermore,we report the results from our experience in two cases of pancreas divisum treated by pancreatic head resection with segmental duodenectomy(the Nakao procedure).Conclusions:Pancreas divisum is a common pancreatic malformation in which only a few patients develop a symptomatic disease.Surgical treatment is needed in case of endoscopic drainage failure and in cases complicated with chronic pancreatitis and local complications.Many techniques,of greater or lesser complexity,have been proposed.

Liquid biopsy in lymphomas: a potential tool for refining diagnosis and disease monitoring

Liquid biopsy consists in a simple blood sampling that allows to analyze cell free DNA (cfDNA), containing specific genomic clues released by the tumor into the bloodstream. In this review, we shall focus on the analysis of cfDNA in lymphoma and, in particular, on its application in the genotyping and monitoring of two common types of B-cell lymphoma, i.e., diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL). From a diagnostic standpoint and based upon the current international guidelines, lymphoma diagnosis has so far relied on the analysis of the tissue biopsy. From a molecular viewpoint, though, the tissue biopsy does not reflect the entire molecular heterogeneity of lymphomas. In fact, in an individual patient, lymph nodes at different anatomical sites, as well as different areas of the same lymph node, may show different genetic profiles. Consequently, molecular analysis of genomic DNA extracted from a single lymph node biopsy may not recapitulate the whole mutational landscape of the disease. Liquid biopsy may overcome this hurdle, since cfDNA is released by all tumoral cells and can reveal the entire molecular complexity of lymphomas. From a translational perspective, liquid biopsy may also be used to evaluate clonal evolution, response to therapy and minimal residual disease. Consistently, in DLBCL as well in cHL, the drop of the mutational burden during the treatment course provides complementary information to conventional imaging techniques. The integration of liquid biopsy with imaging techniques may prove useful for a better prediction of patients' outcome and for a better treatment tailoring.