Cervical stromal invasion and molecular characterization in stage II-IV endometrial cancers.

Objective: The optimal treatment for patients with cervical stromal invasion (CSI) in endometrial cancer (EC) remains unclear. We aimed to test the prognostic role of molecular classification in EC patients with CSI.

Methods: A retrospective, multicenter review of EC patients with CSI was performed.

Unfavorable carcinoma of unknown primary with a gastrointestinal profile: a retrospective study.

Background: Carcinoma of unknown primary (CUP) with a gastrointestinal profile is categorized by the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) guidelines into favorable and unfavorable subsets. Favorable CUPs benefit from site-specific chemotherapy (CT), while the optimal treatment for unfavorable CUPs is still undefined.

Materials And Methods: We conducted a single-center retrospective study to describe outcomes of patients with CUP with a gastrointestinal profile referred to our center from January 2000 to August 2023.

Tumor microenvironment-induced FOXM1 regulates ovarian cancer stemness.

In ovarian tumors, the omental microenvironment profoundly influences the behavior of cancer cells and sustains the acquisition of stem-like traits, with major impacts on tumor aggressiveness and relapse. Here, we leverage a patient-derived platform of organotypic cultures to study the crosstalk between the tumor microenvironment and ovarian cancer stem cells. We discovered that the pro-tumorigenic transcription factor FOXM1 is specifically induced by the microenvironment in ovarian cancer stem cells, through activation of FAK/YAP signaling.

Tips and Tricks for Early Diagnosis of Cervico-Vaginal Involvement from Extramammary Paget's Disease of the Vulva: A Referral Center Experience.

Cervico-vaginal (CV) localization of extra-mammary Paget's disease (EMPD) of the vulva is extremely rare. In order to investigate the incidence risk and the pathognomonic clinical and pathological features of this condition, a retrospective analysis was conducted including 94 women treated for vulvar EMPD at the European Institute of Oncology, Milan, Italy, from October 1997 to May 2020. Overall nine patients developed CV involvement from EMPD, with a cumulative incidence of 2.

Embryonal Rhabdomyosarcoma of the Uterine Cervix: A Clinicopathologic Study of 94 Cases Emphasizing Issues in Differential Diagnosis Staging, and Prognostic Factors.

Embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma of the uterine cervix (cERMS) is rare and frequently associated with DICER1 mutations. We report 94 tumors that arose in patients aged 7 to 59 (median=23) years and presented with vaginal bleeding (52), protruding vaginal mass (17), cervical polyp (8), or expelled tumor fragments per vagina (5). Nine had DICER1 syndrome, 8 of whom had other syndromic manifestations including ovarian Sertoli-Leydig cell tumor (7), multinodular goiter (3), pleuropulmonary blastoma (2), pineoblastoma (1), and osteosarcoma (1).

10-nanosecond dead time and low afterpulsing with a free-running reach-through single-photon avalanche diode.

The reduction of detector dead time represents an enabling factor in several photon counting applications. In this work, we investigate the free-running operation of reach-through single-photon avalanche diodes (SPADs) at ultra-low dead times. By employing a fast active quenching circuit with direct bonding to the detector, we are able to achieve a 10 ns dead time with a thick SPAD by Excelitas, still maintaining extremely low afterpulsing probabilities (below 1.

4 ns dead time with a fully integrated active quenching circuit driving a custom single photon avalanche diode.

At the present time, Single Photon Avalanche Diodes (SPADs) are the enabling devices in many applications, ranging from medical imaging to laser ranging and from remote sensing to quantum key distribution. Even though they belong to different scientific domains, these applications share the need for a detector capable of attaining high count rates possibly without trading it off with other key detector's features, such as afterpulsing probability, photon detection efficiency, and dark counts. In this work, we present the characterization of a fast integrated active quenching circuit capable of driving high-performance external custom-technology SPADs for single photon detection in the visible wavelength range.

The Potential Impact of High-Risk Human Papillomavirus-Negative Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia 2+ on Primary Human Papillomavirus Screening.

Objectives: To investigate the prevalence of high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV)-negative cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) and invasive cervical carcinoma (ICC) and to analyze the distribution of other genotypes in this subset.

Methods: In total, 431 women who underwent excisional surgical treatment for CIN or ICC at the European Institute of Oncology, Milan, Italy, from January 2016 to December 2017 were retrospectively analyzed. The Linear Array HPV genotyping test (Roche Diagnostics) was performed on a postaliquot from high-risk-HPV-negative liquid-based cervical specimens, when available.

Clear cell carcinoma of the ovary: Epidemiology, pathological and biological features, treatment options and clinical outcomes.

Clear cell carcinoma of the ovary is a rare and distinct histotype of epithelial ovarian carcinomas. Women diagnosed with clear cell carcinomas are usually younger and diagnosed at earlier stages than those with the most common high-grade serous histology. Endometriosis is considered a main risk factor for the development of clear cell carcinoma of the ovary, and it can be considered a precursor of of this tumor, as it is identified in more than 50% of patients with clear cell carcinoma.

Toward ultra-fast time-correlated single-photon counting: A compact module to surpass the pile-up limit.

Time-Correlated Single-Photon Counting (TCSPC) is an excellent technique used in a great variety of scientific experiments to acquire exceptionally fast and faint light signals. Above all, in Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging (FLIM), it is widely recognized as the gold standard to record sub-nanosecond transient phenomena with picosecond precision. Unfortunately, TCSPC has an intrinsic limitation: to avoid the so-called pile-up distortion, the experiments have been historically carried out, limiting the acquisition rate below 5% of the excitation frequency.

Custom silicon technology for SPAD-arrays with red-enhanced sensitivity and low timing jitter.

Single-photon detection is an invaluable tool for many applications ranging from basic research to consumer electronics. In this respect, the Single Photon Avalanche Diode (SPAD) plays a key role in enabling a broad diffusion of these techniques thanks to its remarkable performance, room-temperature operation, and scalability. In this paper we present a silicon technology that allows the fabrication of SPAD-arrays with an unprecedented combination of low timing jitter (95 ps FWHM) and high detection efficiency at red and near infrared wavelengths (peak of 70% at 650 nm, 45% at 800 nm).

Not everything is what it seems: malignant pleural mesothelioma mimicking lung cancer.

Malignant pleural mesothelioma usually arises from the pleural surface and progressively encases the lungs. Pulmonary involvement generally occurs at an advanced stage, while intraparenchymal nodules, in the absence of pleural lesions, constitute a less frequent presentation. We describe the case of a patient with multiple bilateral pulmonary nodules, mediastinal lymphadenopathies and left pleural effusion in the absence of pleural lesions, simulating advanced stage lung cancer.

Expression of tumor-associated antigens in breast cancer subtypes.

Objectives: Tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) are frequently overexpressed in several cancer types. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of TAAs in breast cancer.

Material And Methods: A total of 250 selected invasive breast cancers including 50 estrogen receptor (ER)-positive (Luminal B like), 50 triple-negative (TN), 50 ER-positive lobular type, 50 ER- and progesterone receptor (PgR)-positive (Luminal A like) and 50 cerbB2-positive breast cancers, were assessed for New York esophageal squamous cell carcinoma-1 (NY-ESO-1), Wilms tumor antigen (WT-1) and PReferentially expressed Antigen of MElanoma (PRAME) antigen expression by immunohistochemistry (IHC).

Optical crosstalk in SPAD arrays for high-throughput single-molecule fluorescence spectroscopy.

Single-molecule fluorescence spectroscopy (SMFS), based on the detection of individual molecules freely diffusing through the excitation spot of a confocal microscope, has allowed unprecedented insights into biological processes at the molecular level, but suffers from limited throughput. We have recently introduced a multispot version of SMFS, which allows achieving high-throughput SMFS by virtue of parallelization, and relies on custom silicon single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) detector arrays. Here, we examine the premise of this parallelization approach, which is that data acquired from different spots is uncorrelated.

Accurate non-invasive measurement of the turn-on transition of fast gated single photon avalanche diodes.

Recently developed Active Quenching Circuits (AQCs) with fast-gating capabilities allow us to control a single photon avalanche diode with gate windows in the nanosecond and sub-nanosecond range, thus paving the way to advanced applications, especially in the field of time-correlated single photon counting. In this scenario, an accurate measurement of the time needed by the AQC to turn-on the detector is of utmost importance. Indeed, it permits us to evaluate the impact of the system in specific applications and provides a tool to designers to understand AQC limitations and to enhance its performance.

Clinical and Ultrasound Characteristics of the Microcystic Elongated and Fragmented (MELF) Pattern in Endometrial Cancer According to the International Endometrial Tumor Analysis (IETA) criteria.

Objectives: To describe sonographic features of the microcystic elongated and fragmented (MELF) pattern of myometrial invasion (MI) using the International Endometrial Tumor Analysis (IETA) criteria; to assess the effect of the MELF pattern on preoperative ultrasound evaluation of MI; and to determine the relationship of the MELF pattern to more advanced stage (≥ IB) and lymph node metastases in women with endometrioid endometrial cancer.

Methods/materials: We included 850 women with endometrioid endometrial cancer from the prospective IETA 4 study. Ultrasound experts performed all ultrasound examinations, according to the IETA protocol.

A cancer-mimicking diagnosis of peritoneal carcinosis: report of a case of abdominal non-tuberculous mycobacterial infection.

Abdominal non-tuberculous mycobacterial infection is a rare condition in healthy patients. When it occurs, it leads to the appearance of typical findings of peritoneal involvement, such as thickening of the peritoneal leaflets and the omentum, ascites and enlargement of lymph nodes and of mesenteric nodules. These findings may be misdiagnosed as tumour peritoneal implants.

Fast fully-integrated front-end circuit to overcome pile-up limits in time-correlated single photon counting with single photon avalanche diodes.

Time-Correlated Single Photon Counting (TCSPC) is an essential tool in many scientific applications, where the recording of optical pulses with picosecond precision is required. Unfortunately, a key issue has to be faced: distortion phenomena can affect TCSPC experiments at high count rates. In order to avoid this problem, TCSPC experiments have been commonly carried out by limiting the maximum operating frequency of a measurement channel below 5% of the excitation frequency, leading to a long acquisition time.

48-spot single-molecule FRET setup with periodic acceptor excitation.

Single-molecule Förster resonance energy transfer (smFRET) allows measuring distances between donor and acceptor fluorophores on the 3-10 nm range. Solution-based smFRET allows measurement of binding-unbinding events or conformational changes of dye-labeled biomolecules without ensemble averaging and free from surface perturbations. When employing dual (or multi) laser excitation, smFRET allows resolving the number of fluorescent labels on each molecule, greatly enhancing the ability to study heterogeneous samples.

Red-Enhanced Photon Detection Module Featuring a 32 × 1 Single-Photon Avalanche Diode Array.

In this letter, the development and the experimental characterization of a new photon detection module, based on a 32×1 red-enhanced single-photon avalanche diode (RE-SPAD) array, are presented. A custom-developed technology has been exploited to design a detector having large-area pixels (50-µm diameter) with optimized performance. With an excess bias voltage = 15 V, a photon detection efficiency as high as 57% at 600 nm (33% at 800 nm) is achieved, along with dark count rate in the kHz range and optical crosstalk probability as low as 0.

Solitary breast neurofibroma: imaging aspects.

Neurofibromas are benign peripheral nerve sheath tumours, which are usually solitary and sporadic. Solitary neurofibromas of the breast are rare. The most common location of a breast neurofibroma is the nipple-areola complex.

High-speed and low-distortion solution for time-correlated single photon counting measurements: A theoretical analysis.

In this paper, we describe a novel solution to increase the speed of Time-Correlated Single Photon Counting (TCSPC) measurements by almost an order of magnitude while providing, in principle, zero distortion regardless of the experimental conditions. Typically, the relatively long dead time associated with the conversion electronics requires a proper tune of the excitation power in order to avoid distortions of the reconstructed waveform due to pileup and counting loss. As a result, the maximum operating rate of a TCSPC channel is now limited between 1% and 5% of the excitation frequency, thus leading to relatively long acquisition times.

Note: Wide-operating-range control for thermoelectric coolers.

A new algorithm for controlling the temperature of a thermoelectric cooler is proposed. Unlike a classic proportional-integral-derivative (PID) control, which computes the bias voltage from the temperature error, the proposed algorithm exploits the linear relation that exists between the cold side's temperature and the amount of heat that is removed per unit time. Since this control is based on an existing linear relation, it is insensitive to changes in the operating point that are instead crucial in classic PID control of a non-linear system.

32-channel time-correlated-single-photon-counting system for high-throughput lifetime imaging.

Time-Correlated Single Photon Counting (TCSPC) is a very efficient technique for measuring weak and fast optical signals, but it is mainly limited by the relatively "long" measurement time. Multichannel systems have been developed in recent years aiming to overcome this limitation by managing several detectors or TCSPC devices in parallel. Nevertheless, if we look at state-of-the-art systems, there is still a strong trade-off between the parallelism level and performance: the higher the number of channels, the poorer the performance.