Vaginal dysbiosis seems associated with hrHPV infection in women attending the Dutch Cervical Cancer Screening Program.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a sexually transmitted virus, which infects approximately 80% of all men and women at some time in their lives. Usually, the infection is resolved successfully by the body's immune system. Persistent infection with high-risk HPV (hrHPV) is necessary but not sufficient for cervical cancer development, and additional factors, such as the vaginal microbiome (vaginome), are thought to be involved.

Reclassification of diffuse large B cell lymphoma to large B cell lymphoma with IRF4 rearrangement in an adult population.

Aims: Large B cell lymphoma with IRF4 rearrangement (LBCL-IRF4) is a new entity in the 2017 revised World Health Organisation (WHO) classification that was initially mainly reported in children. After identification of a 79-year-old patient, we assessed how often IRF4 rearrangements can be detected in adult diffuse large B cell lymphomas (DLBCLs) which have to be reclassified to LBCL-IRF4 based on fluorescence in-situ hybridisation (FISH) for IRF4.

Methods And Results: With FISH, we studied the presence of IRF4 rearrangements in 238 lymphomas that were diagnosed as DLBCL according to the previous WHO classification of 2008.

Sociodemographic Characteristics and Screening Outcomes of Women Preferring Self-Sampling in the Dutch Cervical Cancer Screening Programme: A Population-Based Study.

Background: In the Netherlands, lower high-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) positivity but higher cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) 2+ detection were found in self-collected compared with clinician-collected samples. To investigate the possible reason for these differences, we compared sociodemographic and screening characteristics of women and related these to screening outcomes.

Methods: We extracted data from PALGA on all primary hrHPV screens and associated follow-up tests for 857,866 screened women, invited in 2017 and 2018.

Comprehensive analytical and clinical evaluation of a RNA extraction-free saliva-based molecular assay for SARS-CoV-2.

Standard SARS-CoV-2 testing protocols using nasopharyngeal/throat (NP/T) swabs are invasive and require trained medical staff for reliable sampling. In addition, it has been shown that PCR is more sensitive as compared to antigen-based tests. Here we describe the analytical and clinical evaluation of our in-house RNA extraction-free saliva-based molecular assay for the detection of SARS-CoV-2.

Clinical performance of high-risk HPV testing on self-samples versus clinician samples in routine primary HPV screening in the Netherlands: An observational study.

Background: High-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) testing on self-collected samples has potential as a primary screening tool in cervical screening, but real-world evidence on its accuracy in hrHPV-based screening programmes is lacking.

Methods: In the Netherlands, women aged 30-60 years invited for cervical screening can choose between sampling at the clinician's office (Cervex Brush) or self-sampling at home (Evalyn Brush). HrHPV testing is performed using Roche Cobas 4800.

Performance analysis of high-throughput HPV testing on three automated workflows.

Primary high-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) DNA testing has been introduced in several countries worldwide, including The Netherlands. The objective of this study was to compare three automated workflow procedures for hrHPV testing of which the hrHPV detection assays meet the international guidelines for HPV testing. To mimic a realistic screening situation, we aimed to process 15 000 residual PreservCyt cervical samples in a period of 3 months.

Soluble mannose receptor levels in blood correlate to disease severity in patients with community-acquired pneumonia.

Purpose: Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is the most common form of pneumonia and is a leading infectious cause worldwide. Identification of patients that are at risk to develop severe disease has proven to be a major challenge. Soluble mannose receptor (sMR; sCD206) is a new serum marker for macrophage activation.

Sexual inactivity and occurrence of STIs in relation to weight status in women: Two large population-based studies.

The aim of this study was to examine sexual inactivity and occurrence of selected sexually transmitted infections in relation to body mass index. We used data from two large Danish population-based cross-sectional studies conducted in 1991-1995 (HPV study: 6869 women, aged 22-32 years) and in 2004-2005 (Liva study: 19,484 women, aged 18-45 years). Data were collected using a structured interview and measured weight, height, high-risk human papillomavirus DNA, Chlamydia DNA for the HPV study and a structured questionnaire for the Liva study.

Multidisciplinary molecular diagnostics: the 9th European meeting on molecular diagnostics.

This report presents a summary of the 9th European Meeting on Molecular Diagnostics held in Noordwijk, The Netherlands, 14-16 October 2015. This 3-day conference covered many relevant topics in the field of molecular diagnostics in humans, including infectious disease, oncology, outbreak management, population-based cancer screening, standardization and quality control, chronic diseases and pharmacogenetics. Beyond these different areas, shared values are new technologies and novel technical and clinical applications.

The Prognostic Value of Microsatellite Instability, and Mutations in Stage II Colon Cancer Patients.

In the era of personalized cancer medicine, identifying mutations within patient tumors plays an important role in defining high-risk stage II colon cancer patients. The prognostic role of V600E mutation, microsatellite instability (MSI) status, mutation and mutation in stage II colon cancer patients is not settled. We retrospectively analyzed 186 patients with stage II colon cancer who underwent an oncological resection but were not treated with adjuvant chemotherapy.

Allelic imbalance at the HER2/TOP2A locus in breast cancer.

Background: Breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease with various histological features and molecular markers. These are utilized for the prediction of clinical outcome and therapeutic decision making. In addition to well established markers such as HER2 overexpression and estrogen and progesterone receptor (ER and PR) status, chromosomal instability is evolving as an important hallmark of cancers.

Biomarkers and molecular analysis to improve bloodstream infection diagnostics in an emergency care unit.

Molecular pathogen detection from blood is still expensive and the exact clinical value remains to be determined. The use of biomarkers may assist in preselecting patients for immediate molecular testing besides blood culture. In this study, 140 patients with ≥ 2 SIRS criteria and clinical signs of infection presenting at the emergency department of our hospital were included.

Comparison of pathogen DNA isolation methods from large volumes of whole blood to improve molecular diagnosis of bloodstream infections.

For patients suffering from bloodstream infections (BSI) molecular diagnostics from whole blood holds promise to provide fast and adequate treatment. However, this approach is hampered by the need of large blood volumes. Three methods for pathogen DNA isolation from whole blood were compared, i.

Comparative study using phenotypic, genotypic, and proteomics methods for identification of coagulase-negative staphylococci.

Five methods were compared to determine the most accurate method for identification of coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) (n = 142 strains). Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) showed the best results for rapid and accurate CoNS differentiation (99.3% of strains correctly identified).

Pharmacogenetics of oxaliplatin as adjuvant treatment in colon carcinoma: are single nucleotide polymorphisms in GSTP1, ERCC1, and ERCC2 good predictive markers?

Purpose: Adjuvant chemotherapy improves survival in stage III colon cancer patients. However, a subgroup of patients still develops recurrent disease at some point in time, partly because of the ineffectiveness of the chemotherapy. Predictive markers of response are therefore crucial.

EGFR and KRAS quality assurance schemes in pathology: generating normative data for molecular predictive marker analysis in targeted therapy.

Introduction: The aim of this study was to compare the reproducibility of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) immunohistochemistry (IHC), EGFR gene amplification analysis, and EGFR and KRAS mutation analysis among different laboratories performing routine diagnostic analyses in pathology in The Netherlands, and to generate normative data.

Methods: In 2008, IHC, in-situ hybridisation (ISH) for EGFR, and mutation analysis for EGFR and KRAS were tested. Tissue microarray sections were distributed for IHC and ISH, and tissue sections and isolated DNA with known mutations were distributed for mutation analysis.

TS gene polymorphisms are not good markers of response to 5-FU therapy in stage III colon cancer patients.

Aim: Although the predictive and prognostic value of thymidylate synthase (TS) expression and gene polymorphism in colon cancer has been widely studied, the results are inconclusive probably because of methodological differences. With this study, we aimed to elucidate the role of TS gene polymorphisms genotyping in therapy response in stage III colon carcinoma patients treated with 5-FU adjuvant chemotherapy.

Patients And Methods: 251 patients diagnosed with stage III colon carcinoma treated with surgery followed by 5-FU based adjuvant therapy were selected.

SNaPshot and StripAssay as valuable alternatives to direct sequencing for KRAS mutation detection in colon cancer routine diagnostics.

Although direct sequencing is the gold standard for KRAS mutation detection in routine diagnostics, it remains laborious, time consuming, and not very sensitive. Our objective was to evaluate SNaPshot and the KRAS StripAssay as alternatives to sequencing for KRAS mutation detection in daily practice. KRAS exon 2-specific PCR followed by sequencing or by a SNaPshot reaction was performed.

Rapid genotyping of human papillomavirus by post-PCR array-based hybridization techniques.

Kinetic hybridization measurements on a microarray are expected to become a valuable tool for genotyping applications. A method has been developed that enables kinetic hybridization measurements of PCR products on a low-density microarray. This is accomplished by pumping a solution containing PCR products up and down through a porous microarray substrate.

Value of gene polymorphisms as markers of 5-FU therapy response in stage III colon carcinoma: a pilot study.

Purpose: The role of pharmacogenetics in chemotherapy response in colon carcinoma is controversial. We studied the value of known SNPs in genes involved in 5-FU metabolism as biomarkers of chemotherapy response in patients with stage III colon carcinoma.

Methods: DNA was isolated from normal colonic tissue of 60 patients with stage III colon carcinoma treated adjuvantly with 5-FU combined with leucovorin.

Histological characteristics of human papilloma-virus-positive and -negative invasive and in situ squamous cell tumours of the penis.

A high prevalence of cervical cancer associated high-risk types of human papillomavirus (hrHPV) has been demonstrated in premalignant and invasive squamous cell lesions of the penis, but large studies correlating histological characteristics with HPV status are few in number. Tumour tissues from 145 patients with invasive (n = 116) or in situ (n = 29) penile squamous cell carcinoma were subjected to systematic histological evaluation and were PCR-tested for 14 hrHPV types and 23 low-risk HPV types. Around half (52%) of invasive and nine-tenths (90%) of in situ lesions were positive for an hrHPV type, of which HPV 16 was by far the predominant type (91% of hrHPV-positive lesions).

Risk factors for squamous cell carcinoma of the penis--population-based case-control study in Denmark.

Few etiologic studies of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the penis have been carried out in populations where childhood circumcision is rare. A total of 71 patients with invasive (n=53) or in situ (n=18) penile SCC, 86 prostate cancer controls, and 103 population controls were interviewed in a population-based case-control study in Denmark. For 37 penile SCC patients, tissue samples were PCR examined for human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA.