Implementing Next-Generation Sequencing Process Changes to Increase Capacity and Improve Timeliness of Molecular Biomarker Profiling for Lung Cancer Patients.

Background: Faced with expansion of molecular tumor biomarker profiling, the molecular genetics laboratory at Kingston Health Science Centre experienced significant pressures to maintain the provincially mandated 2-week turnaround time (TAT) for lung cancer (LC) patients. We used quality improvement methodology to identify opportunities for improved efficiencies and report the impact of the initiative.

Methods: We set a target of reducing average TAT from accessioning to clinical molecular lab report for LC patients.

Diagnostic Yield for Cancer and Diagnostic Accuracy of Computed Tomography-guided Core Needle Biopsy of Subsolid Pulmonary Lesions.

Purpose: We aimed to determine the diagnostic yield for cancer and diagnostic accuracy of computed tomography-guided core needle biopsy (CTNB) in subsolid pulmonary lesions.

Materials And Methods: Fifty-two biopsies of 52 subsolid lesions in 51 patients were identified from a database of 912 lung biopsies and analyzed for the diagnostic yield for cancer and diagnostic accuracy of core CTNB diagnosis as well as complication rates.

Results: When indeterminate biopsy results were included in the analysis, the diagnostic yield for cancer was 80.

The histology of human right atrial tissue in patients with high-risk Obstructive Sleep Apnea and underlying cardiovascular disease: A pilot study.

Background: Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) results in intermittent hypoxia leading to atrial remodeling, which, among other things, facilitates development of atrial fibrillation. While much data exists on the macrostructural changes in cardiac physiology induced by OSA, there is a lack of studies looking for histologic changes in human atrial tissue induced by OSA which might lead to the observed macrostructural changes.

Methods: A case control study was performed.

Isolated anterior urethral recurrence of prostatic adenocarcinoma.

Isolated anterior urethral metastases from prostate cancer are rare. The pathogenesis of this form of loco-regional recurrence may be related to spread by instrumentation-induced implantation and could potentially then be associated with a better prognosis than metastatic disease secondary to a more malignant phenotype. We report a case of a 68-year-old man with high-risk prostate cancer, diagnosed at transurethral resection of prostate, who was originally treated with combination external beam radiotherapy and hormonal therapy.

Fer protein-tyrosine kinase promotes lung adenocarcinoma cell invasion and tumor metastasis.

Unlabelled: Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is frequently amplified or mutated in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Although Fer protein-tyrosine kinase signals downstream of EGFR, its role in NSCLC tumor progression has not been reported. Here, Fer kinase was elevated in NSCLC tumors compared to normal lung epithelium.

Composite paraganglioma-ganglioneuroma of the urinary bladder: a rare neoplasm causing hemodynamic crisis at tumour resection.

A 64-year-old man presented with gross painless hematuria. Cystoscopy revealed a submucosal bladder neck mass covered by normal urothelium. During transurethral resection, the patient developed hemodynamic crisis including sinus bradycardia.

Synchronous ipsilateral renal cell carcinoma and urothelial carcinoma of the renal pelvis.

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and urothelial carcinoma of the upper urinary tract are not uncommon urological malignancies. Their simultaneous occurrence in a patient is, however, extraordinarily rare. We report the case of a patient who underwent laparoscopic nephrectomy for suspected RCC.

Augmenting detection of prostate cancer in transrectal ultrasound images using SVM and RF time series.

We propose a novel and accurate method based on ultrasound RF time series analysis and an extended version of support vector machine classification for generating probabilistic cancer maps that can augment ultrasound images of prostate and enhance the biopsy process. To form the RF time series, we record sequential ultrasound RF echoes backscattered from tissue while the imaging probe and the tissue are stationary in position. We show that RF time series acquired from agar-gelatin-based tissue mimicking phantoms, with difference only in the size of cell-mimicking microscopic glass beads, are distinguishable with statistically reliable accuracies up to 80.

Urachal malignant fibrous histiocytoma: a case report and review of the literature.

Pathologic processes involving the urachus are usually related to inflammatory or sinofistular conditions. Neoplasms rarely arise within this structure, and when they do occur, they are typically epithelial, with mucinous adenocarcinoma being the most common. Mesenchymal lesions, both benign and malignant, have rarely been described in this location.

The role of hepatocyte growth factor (scatter factor) in epithelial-mesenchymal transition and breast cancer.

North American women have a one in eight lifetime risk of developing breast cancer, and approximately one in three women with breast cancer will die of metastases. We, and others, have recently shown that high levels of expression of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and its receptor Met are associated with invasive human breast cancer and may be causally linked to metastasis. This high level of HGF and Met expression has been considered as a possible indicator of earlier recurrence and shortened survival in breast cancer patients.