The magnitude of benefit of Mediterranean diet in cancer prevention and mortality in older adults is still unclear, therefore we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis. Outcomes considered were cancer incidence and cancer mortality. In studies evaluating cancer incidence as a time-to-event endpoint and adherence as quantiles, HR was 0.885 (95% CI 0.773–1.013, I² = 44%). Including ORs, exploratory pooled effect size was 0.876 (0.794–0.966, I² = 34%), consistently with results of studies evaluating ORs for adherence as one-point increase (OR 0.744, 0.570–0.972, I² = 90%). No clear benefit was observed on cancer mortality, with pooled HR of 0.935 (0.800–1.093, I² = 0%). Significant differences were observed for ORs according to cancer type but not between medium and high adherence for both outcomes. Certainty of evidence was low. Our findings suggest that MD could play a protective role in cancer incidence in advanced age, but no clear effect on cancer mortality was observed.

Background/Objectives: Malnutrition, sarcopenia, cachexia, and frailty often coexist in older cancer patients and are associated with worse treatment tolerance, reduced quality of life, and increased mortality. These syndromes can be underrecognized, and the therapeutic approach is often fragmented. In light of this, the aim of this review was to synthesize current evidence on the screening and clinical management of nutritional aspects and the related tools, favoring multidimensional and personalized nutritional care. Methods: This narrative review was conducted according to the SANRA guidelines. A comprehensive literature search was performed on PubMed for studies published between January 2000 and June 2025, with no language restrictions. Eligible studies included adults aged ≥65 with cancer, addressing malnutrition, sarcopenia, cachexia, frailty, or nutrition-related interventions. Results: Malnutrition affects 30–80% of older cancer patients and is strongly associated with reduced survival, impaired treatment tolerance, and poorer quality of life. Tools such as PG-SGA, G8, GNRI, and CONUT offer practical options for early risk identification. Nutritional interventions, including oral supplements, dietary counseling, symptom management, and multimodal strategies (nutrition plus exercise), are associated with improved clinical outcomes. Evidence also supports the prognostic value of early screening and individualized nutrition care pathways. Conclusions: Malnutrition represents a modifiable risk factor in geriatric oncology and should be assessed considering other related conditions such as sarcopenia, cachexia, and frailty. Systematic screening and targeted interventions should be integrated into standard cancer care to improve outcomes in older adults. Future research should prioritize personalized nutrition strategies and multicenter trials focused on survival, function, and quality of life.

Background: Muscle strength is one of the key components in the diagnosis of sarcopenia. The aim of this study was to train a machine learning model to predict reference values and percentiles for handgrip strength and chair‐stand test (CST), in a large cohort of community dwellers recruited in the Longevity check‐up (Lookup) 8+ project.Methods: The longevity checkup project is an ongoing initiative conducted in unconventional settings in Italy from 1 June 2015. Eligible participants were 18+ years and provided written informed consent. After a 70/20/10 split in training, validation and test set, a quantile regression forest (QRF) was trained. Performance metrics were R‐squared (R²), mean squared error (MSE), root mean squared error (RMSE) and mean Winkler interval score (MWIS) with 90% prediction coverage (PC). Metrics 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using a bootstrap approach. Variable contribution was analysed using SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) values. Probable sarcopenia (PS) was defined according to the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People 2 (EWGSOP2) criteria.Results: Between 1 June 2015 and 23 November 2024, a total of 21 171 individuals were enrolled, of which 19 995 were included in our analyses. In the overall population, 11 019 (55.1%) were females. Median age was 56 years (IQR 47.0–67.0). Five variables were included: age, sex, height, weight and BMI. After the train/validation/test split, 13 996 subjects were included in the train set, 4199 in validation set and 1800 in the test set. For handgrip strength, the R² was 0.65 (95% CI 0.63–0.67) in the validation set and 0.64 (95% CI 0.62–0.67) in the test set. PCs were 91.5% and 91.2%, respectively. For CST test, the R² was 0.23 (95% CI 0.20–0.25) in the validation set and 0.24 (95% CI 0.20–0.28) in the test set. The PCs were 89.5% and 89.3%. Gender was the most influential variable for handgrip and age for CST. In the validation set, 23% of subjects in the first quartile for handgrip and 13% of subjects in the fourth quartile for CST test met criteria of PS.Conclusions: We developed and validated a QRF model to predict subject‐specific quantiles for handgrip and CST. These models hold promise for integration into clinical practice, facilitating cost‐effective and time‐efficient early identification of individuals at elevated risk of sarcopenia. The predictive outputs of these models may serve as surrogate biomarkers of the aging process, capturing functional decline.

In untreated ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer no randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are available directly comparing next-generation ALK-inhibitors. We conducted a sensitivity analysis using the likelihood of being helped or harmed (LHH). Phase III trials comparing ALK-inhibitors to crizotinib were included. Efficacy outcomes were progression-free survival (PFS), objective response rate (ORR), PFS in patients with brain metastases and intracranial ORR. Safety outcomes were grade 3-4 adverse events (AEs), dose reductions and discontinuations. Six RCTs (1524 patients) were included. Lorlatinib and brigatinib had the lowest NNT for intracranial outcomes. Alectinib demonstrated favourable LHHs for grade 3-4 AEs, dose reductions and discontinuations. Brigatinib LHHs were low for common AEs, mainly laboratory anomalies and hypertension. Ensartinib showed mainly skin toxicity. Lorlatinib LHHs were low for specific grade 3-4 AEs, mainly metabolic alterations. The four ALK-inhibitors exhibited favourable risk-benefit ratios. Lorlatinib showed the lowest NNT for systemic efficacy and, alongside with Brigatinib, lower NNTs for intracranial efficacy. Alectinib exhibited higher LHHs for AEs. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42023389101.

Introduction: Myocardial bridge is a morphological anomaly of the heart characterised by the presence of a myocardial segment above a coronary artery, which results in a higher risk of cardiovascular events. In patients with prostate cancer treated with androgen receptor-targeted agents, a higher risk of cardiotoxicity was observed. Case report: An 88 years old man with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer in treatment with enzalutamide, denosumab, and triptorelin presented to our attention complaining dyspnoea and angina pectoris. Management and outcome: Blood examinations revealed normal Troponin I levels. Transthoracic echocardiography revealed no signs of acute myocardial ischaemia. The treadmill stress test revealed S-T tract under levelling in V4–V6 with a very slow resolution. Coronary angiography identified a myocardial bridge in the medium tract of the interventricular anterior artery. Due to these findings, ranolazine and simvastatin were started and, after multidisciplinary assessment, we decided to continue the treatment with enzalutamide. At the first follow-up visit echocardiography found out the cardiological reports stability and no therapy changes were performed. During follow-up visit cardiological revaluation showed reports stability and no therapy changes were performed. Discussion: Due to the high prevalence of prostate cancer in elderly patients at high cardiovascular risk and the increasing use of androgen receptor-targeted agent, a multidisciplinary approach is highly recommended to weigh survival benefits on toxicities. This case report may support the use of androgen receptor-targeted agent in elderly patients with controlled cardiovascular diseases, a population that is often excluded from randomised trials.