Publications by authors named "Horeweg N"

Of the 4 molecular subtypes of endometrial cancer (EC), p53-abnormal (p53abn) EC is associated with abundant copy number alterations and the worst clinical outcome. Patients with p53abn EC have the highest risk of disease recurrence and death, independent of tumor grade and histologic subtype. Currently, all invasive p53abn ECs are considered high risk, and no prognostic biomarkers have yet been found that can aid in clinical management.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to investigate the survival outcomes following cytoreductive surgery (CRS) in patients with primary stage IV endometrial cancer (EC).

Methods: We systematically searched the Cochrane Library, Embase, MEDLINE/PubMed, and Web of Science for original studies reporting survival outcomes of primary stage IV EC after complete, optimal, and incomplete CRS. Pooled hazard ratios (HRs) for overall survival (OS) comparing optimal CRS with incomplete CRS were calculated using a random-effects model.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Recent research on the HER2-targeted therapy trastuzumab-deruxtecan has led to a study examining HER2-low status in over 800 advanced endometrial cancer (EC) cases, which typically have a poor prognosis despite numerous treatment options.
  • The study found that 17.2% of tumors were HER2-low, with higher frequencies in recurrent or metastatic EC (35.6%) and primary stage IV EC (29.9%), indicating HER2 status is present across various EC classifications without independent prognostic value.
  • The findings suggest that a significant portion of high-risk and metastatic EC cases exhibit HER2 overexpression, emphasizing the importance of broad HER2 testing and potential treatment opportunities for diverse patient groups.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: BIOEMBRACE was designed to study the impact of biomarkers in addition to clinicopathological factors on disease outcomes in patients treated with chemoradiation and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-guided brachytherapy (BT) for locally advanced cervical cancer in the EMBRACE study.

Methods And Materials: Between 2018 and 2021, 8 EMBRACE-I sites contributed tumor tissue for the immunohistochemistry of p16, PD-L1, and L1CAM. These biomarkers and clinicopathological factors (International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics 2009 stage, nodal status, histology, and necrosis on MRI) were analyzed to predict poor response at BT (high-risk clinical target volume [HR-CTV] ≥ 40 cc) at BT) and 5-year local control, pelvic control, and disease-free survival.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Predicting distant recurrence of endometrial cancer (EC) is crucial for personalized adjuvant treatment. The current gold standard of combined pathological and molecular profiling is costly, hampering implementation. Here we developed HECTOR (histopathology-based endometrial cancer tailored outcome risk), a multimodal deep learning prognostic model using hematoxylin and eosin-stained, whole-slide images and tumor stage as input, on 2,072 patients from eight EC cohorts including the PORTEC-1/-2/-3 randomized trials.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Numerous studies have shown that older women with endometrial cancer have a higher risk of recurrence and cancer-related death. However, it remains unclear whether older age is a causal prognostic factor, or whether other risk factors become increasingly common with age. We aimed to address this question with a unique multimethod study design using state-of-the-art statistical and causal inference techniques on datasets of three large, randomised trials.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objectives: Multiple studies have proven the prognostic value of molecular classification for stage I-III endometrial cancer patients. However, studies on the relevance of molecular classification for stage IV endometrial cancer patients are lacking. Hypothetically, poor prognostic molecular subtypes are more common in higher stages of endometrial cancer.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: Although fundus photography is extensively used in ophthalmology, refraction prevents accurate distance measurement on fundus images, as the resulting scaling differs between subjects due to varying ocular anatomy. We propose a PARaxial Optical fundus Scaling (PAROS) method to correct for this variation using commonly available clinical data.

Methods: The complete optics of the eye and fundus camera were modeled using ray transfer matrix formalism to obtain fundus image magnification.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Universal tumor screening in endometrial carcinoma (EC) is increasingly adopted to identify individuals at risk of Lynch syndrome (LS). These cases involve mismatch repair-deficient (MMRd) EC without MLH1 promoter hypermethylation (PHM). LS is confirmed through the identification of germline MMR pathogenic variants (PV).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: The clinical significance of the p53-abnormal (p53abn) molecular subtype in stage I low-grade endometrioid endometrial carcinoma (EEC) is debated. We aimed to review pathologic and molecular characteristics, and outcomes of stage I low-grade p53abn EEC in a large international cohort.

Experimental Design: Previously diagnosed stage I p53abn EC (POLE-wild-type, mismatch repair-proficient) low-grade EEC from Canadian retrospective cohorts and PORTEC-1&2 trials were included.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: The molecular classification of endometrial cancer (EC) has proven to have prognostic value and is predictive of response to adjuvant chemotherapy. Here, we investigate its predictive value for response to external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) and vaginal brachytherapy (VBT) in early-stage endometrioid EC (EEC).

Methods: Data of the randomized PORTEC-1 trial (n = 714) comparing pelvic EBRT with no adjuvant therapy in early-stage intermediate-risk EC and the PORTEC-2 trial (n = 427) comparing VBT with EBRT in early-stage high-intermediate-risk EC were used.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: MRI is increasingly used in the diagnosis and therapy planning of uveal melanoma (UM). In this prospective cohort study, we assessed the radiological characteristics, in terms of anatomical and functional imaging, of UM after ruthenium-106 plaque brachytherapy or proton beam therapy (PBT) and compared them to conventional ultrasound.

Methods: Twenty-six UM patients were evaluated before and 3, 6 and 12 months after brachytherapy (n = 13) or PBT (n = 13).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: Detection of 11 pathogenic variants in the gene in endometrial cancer (EC) is critically important to identify women with a good prognosis and reduce overtreatment. Currently, status is determined by DNA sequencing, which can be expensive, relatively time-consuming, and unavailable in hospitals without specialized equipment and personnel. This may hamper the implementation of -testing in clinical practice.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Risk-assessment of endometrial cancer (EC) is based on clinicopathological factors and molecular subgroup. It is unclear whether adding hormone receptor expression, L1CAM expression or CTNNB1 status yields prognostic refinement.

Methods: Paraffin-embedded tumour samples of women with high-risk EC (HR-EC) from the PORTEC-3 trial (n = 424), and a Dutch prospective clinical cohort called MST (n = 256), were used.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Endometrial cancer can be molecularly classified into POLE, mismatch repair deficient (MMRd), p53 abnormal (p53abn), and no specific molecular profile (NSMP) subgroups. We aimed to develop an interpretable deep learning pipeline for whole-slide-image-based prediction of the four molecular classes in endometrial cancer (im4MEC), to identify morpho-molecular correlates, and to refine prognostication.

Methods: This combined analysis included diagnostic haematoxylin and eosin-stained slides and molecular and clinicopathological data from 2028 patients with intermediate-to-high-risk endometrial cancer from the PORTEC-1 (n=466), PORTEC-2 (n=375), and PORTEC-3 (n=393) randomised trials and the TransPORTEC pilot study (n=110), the Medisch Spectrum Twente cohort (n=242), a case series of patients with POLE endometrial cancer in the Leiden Endometrial Cancer Repository (n=47), and The Cancer Genome Atlas-Uterine Corpus Endometrial Carcinoma cohort (n=395).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: The objective of this study is to study (1) the relationship between patient-reported symptom burden and information needs in hospital-based palliative care and (2) differences in patient-reported needs during the disease trajectory.

Methods: Observational study: patient-reported symptom burden and information needs were collected via a conversation guide comprising assessment scales for 12 symptoms (0-10), the question which symptom has priority to be solved and a question prompt list on 75 palliative care-related items (35 topics, 40 questions). Non-parametric tests assessed associations.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Endometrial cancer (EC) diagnostics is evolving into a system in which molecular aspects are increasingly important. The traditional histological subtype-driven classification has shifted to a molecular-based classification that stratifies EC into mutated (mut), mismatch repair deficient (MMRd), and p53 abnormal (p53abn), and the remaining EC as no specific molecular profile (NSMP). The molecular EC classification has been implemented in the World Health Organization 2020 classification and the 2021 European treatment guidelines, as it serves as a better basis for patient management.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: Microcystic, elongated fragmented (MELF) pattern of myometrial invasion is a distinct histologic feature occasionally seen in low-grade endometrial carcinomas (EC). The prognostic relevance of MELF invasion was uncertain due to conflicting data, and it had not yet appropriately been studied in the context of the molecular EC classification. We aimed to determine the relation of MELF invasion with clinicopathological and molecular characteristics, and define its prognostic relevance in early-stage low/intermediate risk EC.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Standard molecular classification of endometrial cancers (EC) is now endorsed by the WHO and identifies p53-abnormal (p53abn) EC as the subgroup with the poorest prognosis and the most likely to benefit from adjuvant chemo(radio)therapy. P53abn EC are POLE wildtype, mismatch repair proficient and show abnormal immunohistochemical (IHC) staining for p53. Correct interpretation of routinely performed p53 IHC has therefore become of paramount importance.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: To evaluate the ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence (IBTR) after 2 accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI) techniques (intraoperative electron radiation therapy [IOERT] and external beam APBI [EB-APBI]) in patients with early-stage breast cancer.

Methods And Materials: Between 2011 and 2016, women ≥60 years of age with breast carcinoma or Ductal Carcinoma In Situ (DCIS) of ≤30 mm and cN0 undergoing breast-conserving therapy were included in a 2-armed prospective multicenter cohort study. IOERT (1 × 23.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

B-cells play a key role in cancer suppression, particularly when aggregated in tertiary lymphoid structures (TLS). Here, we investigate the role of B-cells and TLS in endometrial cancer (EC). Single cell RNA-sequencing of B-cells shows presence of naïve B-cells, cycling/germinal center B-cells and antibody-secreting cells.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Adjuvant radiotherapy is an important component of post-operative therapy for patients with early-stage endometrial cancer. In the past decades, many trials have been conducted to determine the optimal adjuvant treatment strategy, pelvic external beam radiotherapy or vaginal brachytherapy. As a result, vaginal brachytherapy became the treatment of choice for patients with early-stage endometrial cancer at high-intermediate risk, based on clinicopathological risk factors.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

We investigated whether the addition of adjuvant chemotherapy to chemoradiation improves overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) by conducting a systematic review and meta-analysis. Systematic searches in the databases of PubMed, Embase and Web of Science yielded 881 articles. Two reviewer authors independently selected 31 articles for full text review and deemed eight studies eligible for inclusion.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • A study evaluated a Question Prompt List (QPL) designed for specialist palliative care to understand its usage and perceptions among patients, families, and non-specialist clinicians during consultations.
  • Patients and families found the QPL useful for structuring their thoughts and asking important questions, which helped them regain a sense of control during a challenging time.
  • Clinicians viewed the QPL as a helpful tool for guiding discussions, although they noted that additional topics were often brought up during consultations beyond those on the list.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF