Publications by authors named "Belen Lloveras"

Article Synopsis
  • Mixed carcinomas, which represent about 10% of penile carcinomas, consist of multiple distinct histological subtypes, categorized by the World Health Organization (WHO) into two groups based on their HPV association.
  • The study aimed to detect HPV genotypes in these mixed tumors, revealing a higher HPV positivity rate (46%) in carcinomas with warty/basaloid features compared to a low rate (7%) in non-warty/basaloid types.
  • HPV16 was the most commonly identified genotype (65%), and the presence of HPV-associated morphology above 20% in mixed tumors is critical for classification as HPV-associated, in accordance with WHO guidelines.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Many scientific societies have issued guidelines to introduce population-based cervical cancer screening with HPV testing. The Vitro HPV Screening assay is a fully automatic multiplex real-time PCR test targeting the L1 GP5+/GP6+ region of HPV genome. The assay detects 14 high risk (HR) HPV genotypes, identifying individual HPV16 and HPV18 genotypes, and the HPV-positive samples for the other 12 HR HPV types are subsequently genotyped with the HPV Direct Flow Chip test.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Stromal tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (sTILs) are a robust prognostic and predictive biomarker in triple-negative breast carcinoma. However, the sTIL compartment comprises different cell populations. The aim of the study is to characterize the distribution of T cells (CD3+ and CD8+), B cells, and plasma cells and explore their association with outcome in the surgical specimen of 62 patients.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Stromal tumour infiltrating lymphocytes (sTIL) in breast cancer are associated with improved outcomes and responses to treatment, particularly in triple-negative and HER2-positive types.
  • A study developed a deep-learning model called smsTIL to analyze different cell types in breast cancer tissue images, focusing on sTILs and their correlation with patient outcomes.
  • The analysis showed a strong agreement between visual and semi-automated scoring of sTIL and indicated that higher smsTIL levels are linked to better overall survival, establishing smsTIL as an independent prognostic factor for patients with triple-negative breast cancer.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • HPV is found in 30-50% of invasive penile cancers, often linked to specific cell types like basaloid and warty carcinomas, indicating diversity in genetic behavior.
  • A study of 177 HPV-positive cases revealed 19 genotypes, with a high prevalence of high-risk types (96%) and HPV16 being the most common.
  • The findings suggest that current HPV vaccinations would cover 93% of cases, with distinct patterns in genotype distribution—HPV16 being more frequent in basaloid cancers compared to warty forms, highlighting their unique characteristics.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Renal manifestations of monoclonal gammopathies are of increasing interest among nephrologists. Typical manifestations include light chain cast nephropathy, amyloidosis or renal damage mediated by monoclonal immunoglobulin deposition. Podocytopathies in the setting of an underlying monoclonal gammopathy constitute a rare manifestation of these diseases and, although being described in the literature, remain a challenge since most data derive from case reports.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: To characterize expression of neuregulin-1 (NRG1), an HER3 ligand, in HER2-positive breast cancer and its relation with the efficacy of trastuzumab with or without pertuzumab.

Experimental Design: Characterization of NRG1 expression in tumor cell lines, in tumor specimens, and in cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs). Patient-derived CAFs were used to investigate NRG1 impact on the activity of trastuzumab with or without pertuzumab in HER2-positive breast cancer cells.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the role of HPV genotyping and previous cytology result to predict the evolution of CIN2 histological lesions managed conservatively.

Methods: A prospective observational study was conducted at Hospital del Mar in Barcelona from January 2012 to May 2017. Women with new diagnosis of CIN2 were invited to undergo conservative management for 24 months.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: Invasive cervical cancer is considered a young women's disease, however up to 20 % of cases develop cervical cancer at advanced ages. The aim was to characterize invasive cervical cancer in women aged 65 and older assessing age-specific survival differences.

Study Design: A retrospective study including cervical cancer patients was conducted at Hospital del Mar Barcelona from July-2007 to December-2016.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Human papillomavirus (HPV)-independent vulvar squamous cell carcinomas (VSCC) and its precursors frequently harbour mutations. Recently, six p53 immunohistochemical (IHC) patterns have been defined, which have shown strong correlation with mutation status. However, few studies have applied this new six-pattern framework and none of them exhaustively compared p53 IHC positivity and patterns between invasive VSCC and adjacent skin lesion.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Quality control in cytology must be established through reliable and easily measurable indicators.

Methods: From the Catalan Society of Cytopathology a group of experts has been established to write a document with 13 indicators that cover the entire cytological process, based on its Cytopathology Quality Guide. It has been elaborated through guides and documents with scientific evidence and DELPHI methodology in order to reach a structured consensus on the opinions of a group of experts.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: To evaluate the 9-year incidence of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2 or worse (CIN2+) and cumulative adherence to perform a next test in a cohort of women aged 40+ years with no cervical screening cytology within a window of 5 years (underscreened women), after baseline cervical cytology and HPV tests.

Methods: In Catalonia, Spain, co-testing with cytology and HPV test has been recommended in the Public Health system since 2006 for underscreened women. In 2007, 1,594 women with underscreened criteria were identified and followed through medical records form Pathological Department.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • There are two main types of vulvar squamous cell carcinoma (VSCC): HPV-associated and HPV-independent, each with different precursor lesions.* -
  • A study examined 779 cases of HPV-negative VSCC to identify and characterize precursors that resemble high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSIL); about 18% of the tumors had these HSIL-like precursors.* -
  • The HSIL-like lesions were commonly found in older patients and showed distinctive morphology and staining patterns, indicating they were HPV-independent and highlighting the need for careful evaluation of such cases.*
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

With the identification of therapeutic targets for lung adenocarcinoma, it has become mandatory to distinguish it from other entities. Some cases remain classified as non-small cell lung carcinoma, not otherwise specified (NSCLC-NOS) with immunohistochemistry. Electron microscopy (EM) can be useful, allowing the identification of glandular differentiation.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

HIV viral reservoirs are established very early during infection. Resident memory T cells (T) are present in tissues such as the lower female genital tract, but the contribution of this subset of cells to the pathogenesis and persistence of HIV remains unclear. Here, we show that cervical CD4T display a unique repertoire of clusters of differentiation, with enrichment of several molecules associated with HIV infection susceptibility, longevity and self-renewing capacities.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Many countries, mainly high- and upper-middle income, have implemented human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination programs, with 47 million women receiving the full course of vaccine (three doses) in 2014. To evaluate the potential impact of HPV vaccines in the reduction of HPV-related disease, we aimed to estimate the HPV type distribution and burden of anogenital and head and neck cancers attributable to HPV types (HPVs 16/18/31/33/45/52/58/6/11) included in currently licensed HPV vaccines.

Methods: In all, 18 247 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded specimens were retrieved from 50 countries.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: To evaluate the spontaneous progression of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2 (CIN2) in accordance with Chlamydia trachomatis (chlamydia) serology.

Methods: A prospective observational study included women diagnosed with CIN2 by cervical biopsy and managed conservatively for 24 months at Hospital del Mar, Barcelona, between December 2011 and October 2013. Serum anti-chlamydia immunoglobulin G (IgG), previous cytology, and high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) genotyping were recorded at baseline.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: In Spain, the guidelines for cervical cancer screening include a recommendation to enroll in external quality control programs. The Spanish Society of Cytology (SEC) has initiated its own quality control program of gynecological cytology (QCPGC).

Aim: To describe and discuss the results of the second round of SEĆs QCPGC.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Aims: Neuroendocrine tumors (NET) of the cervix are rare tumors with a very aggressive course. The human papillomavirus (HPV) has been linked to its etiology. The objective of this study is to describe HPV prevalence and genotype distribution of NET.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Most human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated vulvar squamous cell carcinomas (VSCCs) originate from high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions, also named usual type vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia. However, growing evidence suggests that morphologic studies have limitations in predicting HPV status in vulvar lesions. We aimed to evaluate adjacent intraepithelial lesions in a series of DNA HPV-positive VSCCs, focusing on unusual histologic patterns mimicking differentiated vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia (dVIN) or lichen sclerosus (LS).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The etiologic role of human papillomaviruses (HPV) in oropharyngeal cancer (OPC) is well established. Nevertheless, information on survival differences by anatomic sub-site or treatment remains scarce, and it is still unclear the HPV-relatedness definition with best diagnostic accuracy and prognostic value.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of all patients diagnosed with a primary OPC in four Catalonian hospitals from 1990 to 2013.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: The aim of the study was to determine the usefulness of human papillomavirus (HPV) partial genotyping test in the triage of newly diagnosed low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSILs).

Materials And Methods: We analyzed 143 patients with LSIL diagnosed de novo. Lesions were classified as positive for HPV 16 or HPV 18, positive for HPV but not HPV 16 or HPV 18 (HPVno16no18) or no HPV detected (HPVneg).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Worldwide use of formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded blocks (FFPE) is extensive in diagnosis and research. Yet, there is a lack of optimized/standardized protocols to process the blocks and verify the quality and presence of the targeted tissue. In the context of an international study on head and neck cancer (HNC)-HPV-AHEAD, a standardized protocol for optimizing the use of FFPEs in molecular epidemiology was developed and validated.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

There are at least two different etio-pathogenic pathways for the development of vulvar squamous cell carcinoma (VSCC): one associated with infection by human papillomavirus (HPV) and another independent of HPV. We aimed to describe the histological characteristics of HPV-associated and -independent tumors and to determine the best strategy to identify HPV in VSCC. A single paraffin block was available for review from a series of 1,594 VSCCs.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Mucosal high-risk (HR) human papillomaviruses (HPV) cause a subset of head and neck cancers (HNC). The HPV-attributable fraction of HNC varies substantially between countries. Although HNC has a very high incidence in the Indian subcontinent, information on the contribution of HPV infection is limited.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF