The Impact of Systematic Safety Precautions on COVID-19 Risk Exposure and Transmission Rates in Outpatient Healthcare Workers.

We evaluated the impact of safety protocols, including rapid testing and contact tracing, on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) risk exposure and transmission rates amongst healthcare workers in the outpatient care setting. Over an 11-week period, a total of 254 employees representing 38% of our total workforce had potential COVID-19 exposure and underwent voluntary COVID-19 testing. Data was stratified based on severity of risk exposure and job description.

Utility of PTEN and ERG immunostaining for distinguishing high-grade PIN from intraductal carcinoma of the prostate on needle biopsy.

Intraductal carcinoma of the prostate and high-grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN) have markedly different implications for patient care but can be difficult to distinguish in needle biopsies. In radical prostatectomies, we demonstrated that PTEN and ERG immunostaining may be helpful to resolve this differential diagnosis. Here, we tested whether these markers are diagnostically useful in the needle biopsy setting.

Utilization trends and positive biopsy rates for prostate biopsies in the United States: 2005 to 2011.

This article assesses the positive biopsy rate and core sampling pattern in patients undergoing needle biopsy of the prostate in the United States at a national reference laboratory (NRL) and anatomic pathology laboratories integrated into urology group practices, and analyzes the relationship between positive biopsy rates and the number of specimen vials per biopsy. For the years 2005 to 2011 we collected pathology data from an NRL, including number of urologists and urology practices referring samples, total specimen vials submitted for prostate biopsies, and final pathologic diagnosis for each case. The diagnoses were categorized as benign, malignant, prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia, or atypical small acinar proliferation.

Pneumoperitoneum with carbon dioxide inhibits macrophage tumor necrosis factor-alpha secretion: source of transitional-cell carcinoma port-site metastasis, with prophylactic irrigation strategies to decrease laparoscopic oncologic risks.

Purpose: Peritoneal macrophages play a critical role in maintaining local host resistance to infection and malignancy through the secretion of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha). We hypothesized that attenuated TNF-alpha secretion, as a result of CO(2) pneumoperitoneum, could alter local immune surveillance, thereby contributing to the development of carcinomatosis and incisional metastasis. We further sought to determine if port-site metastasis could be prevented with prophylactic irrigants.

Indole-3-carbinol prevents PTEN loss in cervical cancer in vivo.

Indole-3-carbinol (I3C) is a phytochemical (derived from broccoli, cabbage, and other cruciferous vegetables) with proven anticancer efficacy including the reduction of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) and its progression to cervical cancer. In a breast cancer cell line, I3C inhibited cell adhesion, spreading, and invasion associated with an upregulation of the tumor suppressor gene PTEN, suggesting that PTEN is important in inhibition of late stages in the development of cancer. The goal of this study was to determine the expression of PTEN during the development of cervical cancer and whether I3C affected expression of PTEN in vivo.

Epithelioid angiomyolipoma of the ovary: a case report and literature review.

Angiomyolipoma (AML) is a benign mesenchymal neoplasm that mainly occurs in the kidney either sporadically or in patients with tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC). Extrarenal AML is uncommon. We describe a 39-year-old female with a history of TSC and bilateral multicentric renal AML who presented with a persistent cystic ovarian mass that fluctuated in size during 2 years of ultrasonographic observation before its removal by salpingo-oophorectomy.