Thyroid cancer is a common malignancy of the endocrine system. Nodules are routinely evaluated for malignancy risk by fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB), and in cases such as follicular lesions, differential diagnosis between benign and malignant nodules is highly uncertain. Therefore, the discovery of new biomarkers for this disease could be helpful in improving diagnostic accuracy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDifferentiated thyroid cancer is the most common malignancy of the endocrine system. Although most thyroid nodules are benign, given the high incidence of thyroid nodules in the population, it is important to understand the differences between benign and malignant thyroid cancer and the molecular alterations associated with malignancy to improve detection and signal potential diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic targets. Proteomics analysis of benign and malignant human thyroid tissue largely revealed changes indicating modifications in RNA regulation, a common cancer characteristic.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAge as a breast cancer (BC) prognostic factor remains debatable. Several studies have investigated clinicopathological features at different ages, but few make an age group direct comparison. The European Society of Breast Cancer Specialists quality indicators (EUSOMA-QIs) allow a standardized quality assurance of BC diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Pancreatic cancer is an aggressive malignancy and a leading cause of cancer death worldwide; its lethality is partly linked to the difficulty of early diagnosis. Modern devices for endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle biopsy (EUS-FNB) were recently developed to improve targeting and sampling of small lesions, but innovative technologies for microscopic assessment are still lacking. Ex vivo fluorescence confocal laser microscopy (FCM) is a new digital tool for real-time microscopic assessment of fresh unfixed biological specimens, avoiding conventional histological slide preparation and potentially being highly appealing for EUS-FNB specimens.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Axillary staging (pN) is a strong predictor of outcome in early stage breast cancer yet following the publication of the Z0011 trial there has been an increasing tendency to spare lymph node dissection. Automated molecular detection of cytokeratin 19mRNA by one-step nucleic acid amplification (OSNA) has been demonstrated to be an accurate method to assess sentinel lymph node (SLN) metastasis. In this study we compare histological and molecular methods following complete axillary lymph node dissection (cALND), determine whether molecular axillary staging affects survival, and evaluate the predictive and prognostic value of total tumor load in ALND (AD-TTL) and in all positive nodes (G-TTL).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOSNA is a molecular assay for the detection of sentinel node metastasis. TTL emerged as a concept that seems to accurately predict the status of the NSN. Authors tried to confirm this motion.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe recent changes in the classification and staging of thyroid tumors have arisen from the need to provide an adequate response to the exponential increase of thyroid cancer, which, however, has not been accompanied by an increase in mortality. These changes pretend to reduce overdiagnoses of malignancy, unnecessary treatment, side effects as well as cost for the health system. To this end, this article reviews recommendations for the management of thyroid surgical pathology samples with emphasis on the new terminology of the WHO classification.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Pleomorphic and Florid Lobular carcinoma in situ (P/F LCIS) are rare variants of LCIS, the exact nature of which is still debated.
Aim: To collect a large series of P/F LCIS diagnosed on preoperative biopsies and evaluate their association with invasive carcinoma and high grade duct carcinoma in situ (DCIS). Data obtained were compared with those reported in the literature.
Background: The American Thyroid Association (ATA) management guidelines for patients with thyroid nodules and differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) are highly influential practice recommendations. The latest revision appeared in 2015 ("ATA 2015"). These guidelines were developed predominantly by North American experts.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCribriform-morular variant of thyroid carcinoma is classically associated with familial adenomatous polyposis but, it can also occur as a sporadic neoplasm. This neoplasm is much more frequently observed in women than in men (ratio of 61:1). In familial adenomatous polyposis patients, tumors are generally multifocal and/or bilateral (multinodular appearance), whereas in the sporadic cases tumors tend to occur as single nodules.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe 2017 edition of the WHO book on Classification of Tumours of Endocrine Organs includes a new section entitled 'Other encapsulated follicular-patterned thyroid tumours', in which the newly created NIFTP (non-invasive follicular thyroid neoplasm with papillary-like nuclear features) is identified and described in detail. Despite deleting the word 'carcinoma' from its name, NIFTP is not a benign tumor either and is best regarded as a neoplasm with 'very low malignant potential'. The main goal of the introduction of NIFTP category is to prevent overdiagnosis and overtreatment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTumor draining sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) are the sites of selective changes as compared to non-SLNs. They show features of tumor-reactive lymphadenopathy, including increased total number of functional blood vessels, but a relative immunosuppressed status has also been described in them. We explored the hypothesis of a selective regression or non-regression in SLNs versus non-SLNs in 142 patients with 110 estrogen receptor-positive and 32 estrogen receptor-negative tumors undergoing both SLN biopsy and axillary lymph node dissection after neoadjuvant therapy by assessing the tumoral (metastatic) and regression statuses of SLNs and non-SLNs separately.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAxillary lymph node metastases represent the most powerful breast cancer prognostic factor, dictating disease staging and clinical therapeutic decisions. Nonetheless, breast cancer patients with positive lymph nodes still exhibit a heterogeneous behavior regarding disease progression. Stem-like subpopulations of cancer cells show high migratory and metastatic capacity, thus we hypothesize that breast cancer stem cell markers evaluation in metastasized lymph nodes could provide a more accurate prediction of patient's prognosis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMargin status of the surgical specimen has been shown to be a prognostic and risk factor for local recurrence in breast cancer surgery. It has been studied as a topic of intervention to diminish reoperation rates and reduce the probability of local recurrence in breast conservative surgery (BCS). This study aims to validate the Dutch BreastConservation! nomogram, created by Pleijhus et al.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Anal squamous cell cancer is an HPV associated disease, highly prevalent in HIV-infected men who have sex with men (MSM). We evaluate the prevalence of HPV infection in an HIV-positive MSM population attending our hospital. Cytological results are correlated with an HR-HPV genotype.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMicroinvasion is the smallest morphologically identifiable stage of invasion. Its presence and distinction from in situ carcinoma may have therapeutic implications, and clinical staging also requires the recognition of this phenomenon. Microinvasion is established on the basis of several morphological criteria, which may be difficult and not perfectly reproducible among pathologists.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSignet-ring cells are relatively common in breast cancers but are frequently overlooked. Although previously defined as a subtype of mucin producing carcinomas, breast carcinomas with signet-ring cell (SRC) differentiation nowadays are not considered a distinct entity. The objective of the present study was to characterize the morphological features and mucin expression profile of breast carcinomas with SRC differentiation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBreast Cancer Res Treat
December 2014
To identify markers of non-response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) that could be used in the adjuvant setting. Sixteen pathologists of the European Working Group for Breast Screening Pathology reviewed the core biopsies of breast cancers treated with NAC and recorded the clinico-pathological findings (histological type and grade; estrogen, progesterone receptors, and HER2 status; Ki67; mitotic count; tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes; necrosis) and data regarding the pathological response in corresponding surgical resection specimens. Analyses were carried out in a cohort of 490 cases by comparing the groups of patients showing pathological complete response (pCR) and partial response (pPR) with the group of non-responders (pathological non-response: pNR).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe contribution of human papillomavirus (HPV) types to the carcinogenesis of cervical cancer has been established for a long time. However, the role of phylogenetically related and rare variants remains uncertain, as well as the influence of concurrent multiple HPV genotypes infection. We aimed at studying the prevalence of several HPV genotypes infecting women with single versus concurrent multiple HPV genotypes infection with a HSIL diagnosis in a cervical cytology.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Ki67 labelling index (LI - proportion of staining cells) is widely used to reflect proliferation in breast carcinomas. Several cut-off values have been suggested to distinguish between tumours with low and high proliferative activity. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the distribution of Ki67 LIs in breast carcinomas diagnosed at different institutions by different pathologists using the method reflecting their daily practice.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCore-needle biopsy (CNB) of breast lesions can be classified into 5 categories according to lesion type and associated risk of malignancy. B3 category (lesion of uncertain malignant potential) constitutes a challenging problem in clinical decision, with most ending in excisional biopsy. Therefore, the aim of this study was to establish the incidence of malignancy on excision biopsy of B3 lesions and assess if subclassification (in B3a and B3b categories) according to the presence of atypia in otherwise B3 lesions better predicts malignancy on excision.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Breast cancer is the most frequent malignant tumor and the leading cause of cancer death in women in Portugal. Due to its relation to an increase in distant metastasis and subsequent death, loco-regional relapse is one major concern in breast cancer women. Several classic prognostic factors as tumour size, nodal stage, histological grade, HER2 status and hormonal receptors have been identified as the most important factors for determining loco-regional relapse, disease free and overall survival.
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