Revolutionizing Cytology and Cytopathology with Natural Language Processing and Chatbot Technologies: A Narrative Review on Current Trends and Future Directions.

The application of chatbots and Natural Language Processing (NLP) in cytology and cytopathology is an emerging field, which is currently characterized by a limited but growing body of research. Here, a narrative review has been proposed utilizing a standardized checklist and quality control procedure for including scientific papers. This narrative review explores the early developments and potential future impact of these technologies in medical diagnostics.

Functional Benefit of Smoking Cessation and Triple Inhaler in Combustible Cigarette Smokers with Severe COPD: A Retrospective Study.

Introduction: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the third cause of mortality and it is smoking-related. It is characterized by a non-reversible airflow limitation and a progressive worsening of the respiratory function. Objective: The aim of this study is to point out the benefit of smoking cessation combined with a single inhaler triple therapy in terms of clinical and functional outcome in this setting.

Prognostic Role of Intragastric Cytopathology and Microbiota in Surgical Patients with Stomach Cancer.

Background: In the last decade, analysis of malignant cells and flora in gastric lavage (GL) has provided interesting data on pathogenesis of gastric cancer (GC). For this study, combining such two aspects into one cyto-microbiologic category, we tested the prognostic role of the presence/absence of cancer cells (GL1/GL0) and bacterial microbiota (MB1/MB0) in our GC population.

Material And Methods: Between April 2012 and August 2019, 79 surgical patients with GC were prospectively investigated with the determination of GL MB.

Expression and role of p16 and GLUT1 in malignant diseases and lung cancer: A review.

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the leading cause of cancer death and in most cases it is often diagnosed at an advanced stage. Many genetic and microenvironmental factors are able to modify the cell cycle inducing carcinogenesis and tumor growth. Among the metabolic and genetic factors that come into play in carcinogenesis and tumor cell differentiation and growth there are two different proteins that should be considered which are glucose transporters (GLUTs) and p16 The first are glucose transporters which are strongly involved in tumor metabolism, notably accelerating cancer cell metabolism both in aerobic and anaerobic conditions.

Prognostic Value of p16 Protein in Patients With Surgically Treated Non-small Cell Lung Cancer; Relationship With Ki-67 and PD-L1.

Background/aim: Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the leading cause of cancer death. Patients eligible for surgery have better overall survival rate than patients who are not eligible. We investigated the prognostic value of p16 in patients who underwent surgery for lung cancer, in association with other factors such as PD-L1 and Ki-67.

Effectiveness of smoking cessation in smokers with COPD and nocturnal oxygen desaturation: Functional analysis.

Introduction: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the fourth cause of mortality and it's frequently associated with breathing sleep disorders.

Objective: The aim of the study is to point out the benefit of smoking cessation over three months in terms of improvement of respiratory functional variables.

Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed evaluating the impact of smoking cessation on 145 patients with COPD and nocturnal oxygen desaturation.

Combination of cord blood-derived human hepatic progenitors and hepatogenic factors strongly improves recovery after acute liver injury in mice through modulation of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling.

Cell therapy represents a promising alternative strategy for end-stage liver disease, and hepatic progenitors are the best candidates. The possibility to maximize the paracrine effects of transplanted cells represents a great potential benefit for cell therapy success. We studied how cell type and microenvironment modulate the Wnt/β-catenin signaling in vitro and in vivo.

Role of HIF-1 in Cancer Progression: Novel Insights. A Review.

Hypoxia is a condition always present in tumor environment owing to the fast growth of tumor cells not supported by adequate blood supply. There is increasing evidence that hypoxia plays an important role in cancer dormancy and cancer metabolism, increasing stemness activity and bringing about cancer initiation and progression. This condition may influence the production of hypoxia inducible factor (HIF) a helix transcription factor which is involved in carcinogenesis and tumor growth through the regulation of genes involved in angiogenesis, glycolytic metabolism and other biological mechanisms.

MicroRNA-551b expression profile in low and high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia.

Objective: To evaluate the expression of microRNA (miR)-551b in patients with low and high grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) and to find an association with high-risk Human Papillomavirus (HR-HPV) infection-related prognostic biomarkers.

Patients And Methods: The expression level of miR-551b was determined in 50 paraffin-embedded cervical specimens (10 normal squamous epithelium, 18 condylomas, 8 CIN1, and 14 CIN2-3) using quantitative Real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). χ2-test compared miR-551b expression in different diagnosis groups.

Interobserver reproducibility of cytologic p16 /Ki-67 dual immunostaining in human papillomavirus-positive women.

Background: The accumulation of cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 2A (p16 ) protein in a cell is associated with neoplastic progression in precancerous cervical lesions. Dual staining for p16 and Ki-67 has been proposed as a triage test in cervical cancer screening for women who test positive for human papillomavirus DNA. In this study, interobserver reproducibility of the interpretation of this test was assessed.

Expression of E-cadherin and α-catenin in T1 N0 laryngeal cancer.

Aim: To determine whether modulation of expression of cell adhesion molecules occurs in neoplastic transformation of laryngeal epithelium and to investigate their possible role in clinical outcome.

Materials And Methods: Fifty-five T1 N0 laryngeal biopsies were tested by immunohistochemistry for the E-cadherin/α-catenin adhesion complex.

Results: High immunohistochemical expression of E-cadherin and α-catenin was found in 18% and 53% cases, respectively.

Prediction of clinical outcome using p16INK4a immunocytochemical expression in low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions and high-risk HPV-positive atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance in patients with and without colposcopic evident cervical disease.

p16INK4a as a diagnostic marker of a cervical intraepithelial neoplasia of grade 2+ (CIN2+) in atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASC-US) and low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (LSIL) cytological samples has been analyzed, but has not yet been included in clinical routine practice. One hundred and ninety-one patients with an abnormal Pap test (84 ASC-US and 107 LSILs) who underwent colposcopy were selected for this study. At enrollment, 96 patients (Group 1) had a positive colposcopy and therefore underwent a cervical biopsy, while 95 (Group 2) had a negative colposcopy and were followed up for up to 1 year.

Usefulness of p16ink4a, ProEX C, and Ki-67 for the diagnosis of glandular dysplasia and adenocarcinoma of the cervix uteri.

Although the diagnostic criteria of in-situ and invasive adenocarcinomas of the cervix uteri are well established, the differentiation from benign mimics may be difficult and the morphologic features of the precursors of endocervical adenocarcinoma are still debated. In this study, we evaluated the usefulness of p16ink4a (p16), ProEX C, and Ki-67 for the diagnosis of endocervical adenocarcinoma and its precursors. Immunohistochemistry with p16, ProEX C, and Ki-67 was performed in 82 glandular lesions including 15 invasive adenocarcinomas, 29 adenocarcinomas in situ (AIS), 22 non-neoplastic samples, and 16 cases of glandular dysplasia (GD), which showed significant nuclear abnormalities but did not meet the diagnostic criteria for AIS.

E-cadherin and alpha-catenin expression in normal, hyperplastic and neoplastic endometrium.

Unlabelled: The aim of this study was to determine whether modulation of expression of cell adhesion molecules may occur in neoplastic transformation of endometrial epithelium.

Materials And Methods: E-Cadherin and α-catenin protein expression were evaluated by immunohistochemistry in 124 biopsies representative of normal, hyperplastic and neoplastic endometrium.

Results: In normal endometrium (proliferative, secretive and atrophic endometrium) strong homogeneous, E-cadherin and α-catenin reactivity was found; 58.

How do young and senior cytopathologists interact with digital cytology?

Today thanks to the technological advances in information technology the scenario of utilization of digital cytology has radically changed. New competitive systems, such as client-server architectures are now available in digital cytology. Their application in telemedicine should be investigated.

Adhesion molecules and p16 expression in endocervical adenocarcinoma.

An immunohistochemical (IHC) study has been conducted on 34 cases of untreated endocervical adenocarcinomas collected among three institutions (Ospedale S. Andrea, Rome; Istituto Nazionale Tumori "Fondazione G. Pascale", Naples; and Clinica Malzoni, Avellino).

Microcolposcopy in the diagnostic evaluation of abnormal cervical cytology: when and why to do it.

Microcolposcopy is an in vivo cytological examination of the uterine cervix allowing the localization of exoendocervical precancerous lesions. The aim of this study was to assess the diagnostic reliability of microcolposcopy by means of correlation with histology, colposcopy and Pap test results. For the study, 256 patients with abnormal Pap test results were selected and subjected to colposcopy and microcolposcopy with the aim of evaluating the presence of any intraepithelial lesions.

Myc down-regulation affects cyclin D1/cdk4 activity and induces apoptosis via Smac/Diablo pathway in an astrocytoma cell line.

Objectives: We investigated the antiproliferative effect of Myc down-regulation via cell proliferation inhibition, cell cycle perturbation and apoptosis in two human astrocytoma models (T98G and ADF) steadily expressing an inducible c-myc Anti-sense RNA.

Materials And Methods: Cell growth experiments were performed using the trypan blue dye exclusion test and cell cycle analysis was evaluated by flow cytometry. Cell cycle molecules were detected by Western blot analysis, co-immunoprecipitation and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction assays.

Alpha- and beta-tubulin expression in rectal cancer development.

Background: Microtubules are involved in cell growth and division, motility, signalling and in the development and maintenance of cell shape. Consequently, the non-equilibrium dynamics of these microtubules can be crucial to cellular function, including cancer development. Although the involvement of tubulins in human development has been well investigated, the role of alpha- and beta-tubulins in human tumorigenesis still remains controversial.

[Detection, characterization and clinical significance of circulating cancer cells in patients surgically treated for breast cancer].

Recent technological advances have led to an increasing ability to detect isolated or groups of tumour cells in blood, lymph nodes or bone marrow in patients with different tumour types. However, the clinical evidence of these advances is unclear. The detection and the characterisation of circulating breast cancer cells and the eventually micrometastasis represent an important prognostic factor with therapeutic implications.

[The role of some micronutrients in the evolution of HPV infection].

Background: Over the past few years a series of research projects has shown that the scant or deficient immune response in HIV infection may be secondary to reduced cell resistance and/or the uncontrolled formation of free radicals. In line with these findings, subjects with HIV infection present a deficit of polyunsaturated fatty acids (the principal components of cell membranes) and many antioxidating substances, like Vitamin E and glutathione peroxidase. The high incidence of heterosexual transmission of HIV has now shown the close correlation between HIV infection and HPV infection.

Biological indicators of aggressiveness in T1 ductal invasive breast cancer.

Background: Apoptosis plays an important role in the maintenance of tissue homeostasis. When defective, this process could contribute to the pathogenesis and the progression of tumors. On this basis, we investigated the combined effect of Bcl-2 and Bax expression, known regulators of apoptotic processes, in the activation of apoptosis in breast cancer.