Publications by authors named "Amin Mahul"

Objectives: Urothelial carcinoma in situ (CIS) with early papillary formation is terminology sometimes used to suggest incipient high-grade papillary urothelial carcinoma (PUC) but may lead to confusion between true CIS and lateral flat spread of PUC.

Methods: It remains unclear how pathologists and urologists interpret this scenario, so a survey was circulated to 68 pathologists (group 1 = 28 academic genitourinary pathologists; group 2 = 17 pathologists with a self-reported genitourinary focus; group 3 = 23 pathologists self-reported as not genitourinary specialists) and 32 urologists.

Results: Regarding atypical urothelial lesions that appear mainly flat but contain possible papillae, group 3 was more likely to label this as CIS compared with groups 1 and 2 (35% for group 3 vs 13% for groups 1 and 2), while groups 1 and 2 more often adopted another descriptive diagnosis, such as "CIS with early papillary features" (38% for groups 1 and 2 vs 13% for group 3).

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  • Synovial sarcoma (SS) is a rare type of cancer, primarily found in genitourinary tissues, commonly linked to the SS18::SSX gene fusion, and its paratesticular occurrence is extremely uncommon, with only 4 documented cases prior to this study.
  • This research details the characteristics and genetic profile of the largest cohort of paratesticular SS patients, analyzing data from 14 individuals aged 15 to 47, all of whom underwent surgical removal of the tumors and some received chemotherapy.
  • The findings indicate a generally poor prognosis for paratesticular SS even after aggressive treatment, emphasizing the need for thorough diagnostic methods to differentiate it from similar conditions, and supporting the use of SS18-SS
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  • Pure intertubular seminoma (PITS) is a rare type of testicular cancer where seminoma cells are found in testicular interstitium without forming a noticeable mass or diffuse growth, leading to challenges in diagnosis.
  • This condition often goes unnoticed and is usually diagnosed incidentally during evaluations for testicular pain, infertility, or other issues, with only a minority of cases presenting with metastasis.
  • A study involving 15 patients revealed that the average age at presentation was 29, and common symptoms included undescended testis, testicular pain, and infertility, while most patients had normal serum markers and no visible tumors at the time of diagnosis.
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  • - Oncocytic renal neoplasms pose significant diagnostic challenges, yet are generally nonaggressive, prompting discussion about the necessity of differentiating emerging subtypes like eosinophilic solid and cystic renal cell carcinoma and others.
  • - A survey of 63 urologic pathologists revealed that many encounter complex oncocytic tumors frequently, with 70% agreeing that eosinophilic solid and cystic renal cell carcinoma should be recognized as a distinct category, while opinions were more divided on other types.
  • - Diagnostic approaches varied among pathologists, with 60% hesitant to diagnose oncocytoma through needle biopsies, and a near split on the routine use of immunohistochemistry; common genetic testing was
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Bladder cancer is a common malignancy worldwide, posing a substantial healthcare challenge. Current standard treatment regimens are primarily based on cisplatin, but their success is often limited by cisplatin resistance and associated toxicities. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop effective and less toxic therapies as alternatives to cisplatin.

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  • * The survey received an 85% response rate from 98 uropathologists, revealing strong agreement on distinguishing between luminal and basal UC types, but varied opinions on the importance of certain genetic tests like FGFR3 and TERT promoter mutations.
  • * Most uropathologists acknowledged the aggressive nature of tumors with micropapillary features and favored further evaluation and specific molecular testing for aggressive subtypes, indicating a need for improved consensus in UC classification and treatment strategies.
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Background: Intensification of therapy may improve outcomes for patients with high-risk localized prostate cancer.

Objective: To provide long-term follow-up data from phase III RTOG 0521, which compared a combination of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) + external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) + docetaxel with ADT + EBRT.

Design, Setting, And Participants: High-risk localized prostate cancer patients (>50% of patients had Gleason 9-10 disease) were prospectively randomized to 2 yr of ADT + EBRT or ADT + EBRT + six cycles of docetaxel.

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JCO NRG Oncology RTOG 0415 is a randomized phase III noninferiority (NI) clinical trial comparing conventional fractionation (73.8 Gy in 41 fractions) radiotherapy (C-RT) with hypofractionation (H-RT; 70 Gy in 28) in patients with low-risk prostate cancer. The study included 1,092 protocol-eligible patients initially reported in 2016 with a median follow-up of 5.

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  • - A new type of oncocytic renal tumor has been identified that appears aggressive under a microscope but is clinically less harmful, featuring mutations in the mTOR gene.
  • - The study involved three patients with metastases in lymph nodes, skull, and liver, whose tumors showed specific histological features, including eosinophilic cells and unique expressions in immunohistochemistry.
  • - One patient's tumor responded to treatment with Everolimus (an mTOR inhibitor), indicating these tumors may have malignant potential despite their indolent behavior and could benefit from targeted therapies.
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Background: Grading of muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) according to the current World Health Organization (WHO) criteria is controversial due to its limited prognostic value. All MIBC cases except a tiny minority are of high grade.

Objective: To develop a prognostic histological scoring system for MIBC integrating histomorphological phenotype, stromal tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (sTILs), tumor budding, and growth and spreading patterns.

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Large Language Models are forms of artificial intelligence that use deep learning algorithms to decipher large amounts of text and exhibit strong capabilities like question answering and translation. Recently, an influx of Large Language Models has emerged in the medical and academic discussion, given their potential widespread application to improve patient care and provider workflow. One application that has gained notable recognition in the literature is ChatGPT, which is a natural language processing "chatbot" technology developed by the artificial intelligence development software company OpenAI.

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Purpose: To determine whether addition of external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) to brachytherapy (BT) (COMBO) compared with BT alone would improve 5-year freedom from progression (FFP) in intermediate-risk prostate cancer.

Methods: Men with prostate cancer stage cT1c-T2bN0M0, Gleason Score (GS) 2-6 and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) 10-20 or GS 7, and PSA < 10 were eligible. The COMBO arm was EBRT (45 Gy in 25 fractions) to prostate and seminal vesicles followed by BT prostate boost (110 Gy if 125-Iodine, 100 Gy if 103-Pd).

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  • - The diagnosis of neuroblastoma can be difficult due to similarities with other pediatric tumors, so this study evaluates the effectiveness of GATA3 and ISL1 as distinguishing markers for neuroblastoma.
  • - In a study of 74 tumors, GATA3 was found to be highly sensitive and specific for neuroblastoma, with 100% sensitivity and 90% accuracy, while ISL1 also showed notable sensitivity and specificity but was less effective than GATA3.
  • - GATA3 and ISL1 could help differentiate neuroblastoma from other similar tumors in pediatric cases, potentially improving diagnostic accuracy and treatment decisions.
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Background: Intensification of therapy may improve outcomes for patients with high-risk localized prostate cancer.

Objective: To provide long-term follow-up data from phase III RTOG 0521, which compared a combination of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) + external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) + docetaxel with ADT + EBRT.

Design, Setting, And Participants: High-risk localized prostate cancer patients (>50% of patients had Gleason 9-10 disease) were prospectively randomized to 2 yr of ADT + EBRT or ADT + EBRT + six cycles of docetaxel.

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Until very recently, surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy have been the mainstay of treatment in non-small cell carcinomas (NSCLCs). However, recent advances in molecular immunology have unveiled some of the complexity of the mechanisms regulating cellular immune responses and led to the successful targeting of immune checkpoints in attempts to enhance antitumor T-cell responses. Immune checkpoint molecules such as cytotoxic T-lymphocyte associated protein-4, programmed cell death protein-1, and programmed death ligand (PD-L) 1 have been shown to play central roles in evading cancer immunity.

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Background: Active surveillance (AS) is recommended for low-risk and some intermediate-risk prostate cancer. Uptake and practice of AS vary significantly across different settings, as does the experience of surveillance-from which tests are offered, and to the levels of psychological support.

Objective: To explore the current best practice and determine the most important research priorities in AS for prostate cancer.

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We have recently shown that histological phenotypes focusing on clear and eosinophilic cytoplasm in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) correlated with prognosis and the response to angiogenesis inhibition and checkpoint blockade. This study aims to objectively show the diagnostic utility of clear or eosinophilic phenotypes of ccRCC by developing an artificial intelligence (AI) model using the TCGA-ccRCC dataset and to demonstrate if the clear or eosinophilic predicted phenotypes correlate with pathological factors and gene signatures associated with angiogenesis and cancer immunity. Before the development of the AI model, histological evaluation using hematoxylin and eosin whole-slide images of the TCGA-ccRCC cohort (n = 435) was performed by a urologic pathologist.

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The reporting recommendations on "flat and papillary urothelial neoplasia," published in 2 position articles by the Genitourinary Pathology Society in July 2021, was a collective contribution of 38 multidisciplinary experts aiming to clarify nomenclature, classification of flat and papillary urothelial neoplasia and controversial issues. In this review, we discuss some of these recommendations including nomenclature, practical approaches, and their importance for clinical practice.

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We present the rationale for keeping the "cancer" label for grade group 1 (GG1) prostate cancer. Maintaining GG1 as the lowest grade outweighs the potential benefits that a benign designation may bring. Patient and surgeon education on the vital role of active surveillance for GG1 cancers and avoidance of overtreatment should be the focus rather than such a drastic change in nomenclature.

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This Seminar presents the current best practice for the diagnosis and management of bladder cancer. The scope of this Seminar ranges from current challenges in pathology, such as the evolving histological and molecular classification of disease, to advances in personalised medicine and novel imaging approaches. We discuss the current role of radiotherapy, surgical management of non-muscle-invasive and muscle-invasive disease, highlight the challenges of treatment of metastatic bladder cancer, and discuss the latest developments in systemic therapy.

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