Objective. Anti-p155 autoantibody, which was recently described in adult patients with dermatomyositis (DM), seems to be associated with cancer in this population. We performed a systematic review and metaanalysis to ascertain the accuracy of anti-p155 testing for the diagnosis of cancer-associated myositis.Methods. We searched relevant databases, with no restrictions on study design or language, for original studies that included adult patients with probable/ definite DM or amyopathic DM who were evaluated for neoplasm and anti-p155 status. Pooled sensitivity and specificity were calculated using a bivariate model. We computed the diagnostic odds ratio (OR), likelihood ratios (LRs) for positive and negative test results, positive and negative predictive values, and the summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) curve. Statistical heterogeneity between studies was assessed using the I 2 statistic, and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were computed for the parameters studied.Results. Six studies including a total of 312 adult patients with DM were selected. The pooled sensitivity of anti-p155 for diagnosing cancer-associated DM was 78% (95% CI 45-94%), and specificity was 89% (95% CI 82-93%). The diagnostic OR was 27.26 (95% CI 6.59-112.82), and LRs for positive and negative test results were 6.79 (95% CI 4.11-11.23) and 0.25 (95% CI 0.08-0.76), respectively. Heterogeneity was substantial except with regard to the LR for a positive test result. The area under the SROC curve was 0.91 (95% CI 0.88-0.93). Taking the pooled prevalence of 17% as pretest probability, anti-p155 had a positive predictive value of 58% and a negative predictive value of 95%.Conclusion. Our findings indicate that anti-p155 autoantibody determination is useful for diagnosing cancer-associated myositis and guiding disease management.Idiopathic inflammatory myopathies are a group of systemic diseases that include dermatomyositis (DM), polymyositis, and sporadic inclusion body myositis. An association between cancer and idiopathic inflammatory myopathies, referred to as cancer-associated myositis, has been extensively reported in the medical literature. The overall cancer risk in these patients is higher than that in the age-and sex-matched general population, particularly during the 3 years following the diagnosis of myositis. Patients with DM have the highest risk of associated cancer (1-5). It is believed that almost onethird of DM cases develop as a paraneoplastic phenomenon.Cancer screening is common practice in patients recently diagnosed as having DM, but there is no consensus regarding how and how often screening should be performed. Several clinical and laboratory markers predictive of neoplasm have been proposed to identify patients with cancer-associated myositis in clin-

This randomized study suggests that p-cond during primary PCI does not reduce infarct size or improve myocardial function recovery at both short- and long-term follow-up and might have a potential harmful effect.

Combined treatment with enalapril and carvedilol may prevent LVSD in patients with malignant hemopathies treated with intensive chemotherapy. The clinical relevance of this strategy should be confirmed in larger studies. (Prevention of Left Ventricular Dysfunction During Chemotherapy [OVERCOME]; NCT01110824).

Background: Tumor markers have been extensively studied in lung cancer, reporting some relationship to the histology, but their clinical utility is not clear. Methods: ProGRP, CEA, SCC, CA 125, CYFRA 21-1 and NSE were studied prospectively in 155 patients with unconfirmed suspicion of lung cancer and in 647 patients with lung cancer: 182 squamous, 205 adenocarcinomas, 19 large-cell lung cancer (LCLC), 175 small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) and 66 unspecific non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Results: Abnormal tumor marker serum levels were found in less than 5.3% of the patients with benign diseases, excluding CA 125 (21.3%). Tumor markers were related to histological type and tumor extension with significantly higher CEA (p <0.01) and CA 125 (p <0.007) serum levels in adenocarcinomas, SCC (p <0.0001) and CYFRA 21-1 (p <0.008) in squamous tumors and ProGRP (p <0.0001) and NSE (p <0.0001) in SCLC. Tumor markers may be useful in the histological differentiation of NSCLC and SCLC. Patients with SCC serum levels >2 ng/ml were always NSCLC, while those with SCC <2 ng/ml and ProGRP >100 pg/ml and NSE >35 ng/ml were all SCLC patients. The sensitivity was 76.7 and 79.5%, specificity was 97.2 and 99.6%, with a positive predictive value of 98.6 and 98.6% and a negative predictive value of 60.7 and 92.9% in the differentiation of NSCLC and SCLC, respectively. Conclusions: Tumor marker determination in patients with suspicious signs of lung cancer suggests, in a few hours, the histological diagnosis in the majority of lung cancer patients.

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