Microbial signatures and continuum in endometrial cancer and benign patients.

Background: Endometrial cancer is a multifactorial disease with inflammatory, metabolic and potentially microbial cues involved in disease pathogenesis. The endometrial cancer microbiome has been poorly characterised so far and studies have often overestimated bacterial biomass due to lack of integration of appropriate contamination controls. There is also a scarcity of evidence on the functionality of microbial microenvironments in endometrial cancer.

Diabetes and anti-diabetic interventions and the risk of gynaecological and obstetric morbidity: an umbrella review of the literature.

Background: Diabetes has reached epidemic proportions in recent years with serious health ramifications. The aim of this study was to evaluate the strength and validity of associations between diabetes and anti-diabetic interventions and the risk of any type of gynaecological or obstetric conditions.

Methods: Design: Umbrella review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

Laser-assisted rapid evaporative ionisation mass spectrometry (LA-REIMS) as a metabolomics platform in cervical cancer screening.

Background: The introduction of high-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) testing as part of primary cervical screening is anticipated to improve sensitivity, but also the number of women who will screen positive. Reflex cytology is the preferred triage test in most settings but has limitations including moderate diagnostic accuracy, lack of automation, inter-observer variability and the need for clinician-collected sample. Novel, objective and cost-effective approaches are needed.

Organoid models in gynaecological oncology research.

Cell culture and animal models represent experimental cornerstones for the investigation of tissue, organ and body physiology in the context of gynaecological research. However, their ability to accurately reflect human mechanisms in vivo is limited. The development of organoid technologies has begun to address this limitation by providing platforms ex vivo that resemble the phenotype and genotype of the multi-cellular tissue from which they were derived more accurately.

Bisphenol-A and polycystic ovary syndrome: a review of the literature.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most common endocrine disorder among women of reproductive age with reproductive, metabolic and endocrine implications. While the exact pathophysiological mechanisms of the syndrome are unknown, its heterogeneity suggests a multifactorial causal background. In the last two decades, numerous environmental chemicals, including Bisphenol-A (BPA) that is used in the synthesis of polycarbonate plastics, have been proposed as potential contributors to the aetiology of PCOS.