[A young woman with abnormal vaginal tissue loss].

A 18-year-old woman experienced abnormal and painful vaginal tissue loss while using an oral contraceptive. A pregnancy test was negative. Histopathological examination of the tissue showed a decidualised endometrium.

Constructive Technology Assessment (CTA) as a tool in coverage with evidence development: the case of the 70-gene prognosis signature for breast cancer diagnostics.

Objectives: Constructive Technology Assessment (CTA) is a means to guide early implementation of new developments in society, and can be used as an evaluation tool for Coverage with Evidence Development (CED). We used CTA for the introduction of a new diagnostic test in the Netherlands, the 70-gene prognosis signature (MammaPrint) for node-negative breast cancer patients.

Methods: Studied aspects were (organizational) efficiency, patient-centeredness and diffusion scenarios.

Validation of 70-gene prognosis signature in node-negative breast cancer.

Purpose: The 70-gene prognosis signature (van't Veer et al., Nature 415(6871):530-536, 2002) may improve the selection of lymph node-negative breast cancer patients for adjuvant systemic therapy. Optimal validation of prognostic classifiers is of great importance and we therefore wished to evaluate the prognostic value of the 70-gene prognosis signature in a series of relatively recently diagnosed lymph node negative breast cancer patients.