Publications by authors named "Janine Wechsler"

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) represent a rare and heterogeneous population of cancer cells that are detached from the tumor site and entered blood or lymphatic circulation. Once disseminated in distant tissues, CTCs could remain dormant or create a tumor mass causing serious danger for patients. Many technologies exist to isolate CTCs from patients' blood samples, mostly based on microfluidic systems or by sorting them according to their surface antigens, notably EpCAM, and/or cytokeratins for carcinoma.

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During phagocytosis, tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) can incorporate genetic material from tumor cells. The incorporation of extra genetic material may be responsible for advanced malignant behavior observed in some TAMs, making TAMs potentially important players in cancer progression. More recently, similar cells were described in the blood as cancer-associated macrophage-like cells (CAMLs).

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Article Synopsis
  • Mycosis fungoides (MF) and primary cutaneous CD30-positive T-cell lymphoproliferative disorders (CD30LPD) are common skin lymphomas, and the study aimed to investigate T-cell antigens and PD-1 expression across a large sample of these conditions.
  • The research involved analyzing 160 samples from patients, finding that CD7 was the most frequently lost antigen, especially in MF and CD30LPD, while benign inflammatory dermatoses showed no significant T-cell antigen loss.
  • The study recommends using CD7 alongside other antigen markers like CD3, CD4, and CD8 for diagnosing MF, and suggests employing double staining techniques for more complex cases.
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The clinical and pathological aspects of fixed drug eruption (FDE) have been described based on a few case series. To compare bullous FDE (BFDE) and non-bullous FDE (NBFDE) and to determine whether BFDE can be histologically distinguished from other dermatoses presenting with an apoptotic pan-epidermolysis. In this retrospective monocentre study (2005-2016), FDE was classified as BFDE or NBFDE and localized (one anatomical site) or generalized (≥ two sites; GBFDE).

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Humoral immunity is the cause of multiple diseases related to antibodies (IgA, IgG, IgM) produced by the patient. Two groups of diseases are identified. The first group is related to circulating antigen-antibody complexes.

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In colorectal cancer (CRC), KRAS mutations are a strong negative predictor for treatment with the EGFR-targeted antibodies cetuximab and panitumumab. Since it can be difficult to obtain appropriate tumor tissues for KRAS genotyping, alternative methods are required. Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are believed to be representative of the tumor in real time.

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Purpose: To compare circulating tumor cell (CTC) detection rates in patients with early (M0) and metastatic (M+) breast cancer using 2 positive-selection methods or size-based unbiased enrichment.

Methods: Blood collected at baseline and at different times during treatment from M0 patients undergoing neoadjuvant therapy and from M+ women starting a new line of treatment was processed in parallel using AdnaTest EMT-1/ and EMT-2/Stem CellSelect/Detect kits or ScreenCell Cyto devices. CTC positivity was defined according to the suggested cutoffs and cytological parameters, respectively.

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Introduction: Taking as a base our retrospective study of 2760 cases of cutaneous lymphoproliferations from the LYMPHOPATH and GFELC networks, we analyzed the doubtful and discordant cases between non-expert and expert pathologists, and the interest of clinicopathological confrontation.

Material And Methods: We defined the main diagnostic difficulties presented by cutaneous lymphoproliferations. We then designed and tested the algorithms on 20 random cases with 20 pathologists, in order to be used by any pathologist (not necessarily specialised in dermatopathology).

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Aims: Aggressive epidermotropic cutaneous CD8(+) lymphoma is currently afforded provisional status in the WHO classification of lymphomas. An EORTC Workshop was convened to describe in detail the features of this putative neoplasm and evaluate its nosological status with respect to other cutaneous CD8(+) lymphomas.

Methods And Results: Sixty-one CD8(+) cases were analysed at the workshop; clinical details, often with photographs, histological sections, immunohistochemical results, treatment and patient outcome were discussed and recorded.

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Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) have been identified with the potential to serve as suitable biomarkers for tumor stage and progression, but the availability of effective isolation technique(s) coupled with detailed molecular characterization have been the challenges encountered in making CTCs clinically relevant. For the first time, we combined isolation of CTCs using the ScreenCell filtration technique with quantitative analysis of CTC telomeres by TeloView. This resulted in the identification and molecular characterization of different subpopulations of CTCs in the same patient.

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Purpose: The emergence of skin tumors in patients treated with sorafenib or with more recent BRAF inhibitors is an intriguing and potentially serious event. We carried out a clinical, pathologic, and molecular study of skin lesions occurring in patients receiving sorafenib.

Experimental Design: Thirty-one skin lesions from patients receiving sorafenib were characterized clinically and pathologically.

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Background: The prognosis of toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN), Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS), and SJS/TEN overlap syndrome has been assessed using a disease-specific severity score (SCORTEN) based on clinical and laboratory data. Histologic data may improve outcome prediction.

Objective: We sought to evaluate whether dermal mononuclear infiltration and epidermal necrosis predict survival of patients with TEN, SJS, or SJS/TEN.

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Neurofibromatosis 1 (NF1) is an autosomal dominant disease that predisposes individuals to developing benign neurofibromas. Some features and consequences of NF1 appear to result from partial deficiency of neurofibromin (Nfn), the NF1 gene protein product, as a result of haploinsufficiency for the NF1 gene. Other features and consequences of NF1 appear to involve total deficiency of Nfn, which arises as a result of either loss of function of the second NF1 allele or excess degradation of Nfn produced by the second allele in a particular clone of cells.

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Multiple neurofibromas are cardinal features of neurofibromatosis 1 (NF1). Several different types of NF1-associated neurofibromas occur, each distinct in terms of pathological details, clinical presentation, and natural history. Mast cells are present in most neurofibromas and have been shown to be critical to the origin and progression of neurofibromas in both human NF1 and relevant mouse models.

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Background: Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) likely derive from clones in the primary tumor, suggesting that they can be used for all biological tests applying to the primary cells.

Materials And Methods: The ScreenCell® devices are single-use and low-cost innovative devices that use a filter to isolate and sort tumor cells by size.

Results: The ScreenCell® Cyto device is able to isolate rare, fixed, tumor cells, with a high recovery rate.

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Background: Clinical information on histologic referral sheets is usually very limited, and particularly for inflammatory skin disorders, dermatopathologists often ask referring physicians for clinical correlation.

Objective: In this study we tested the value of clinicopathologic correlation in the histopathologic diagnosis of inflammatory skin disorders.

Methods: One-hundred biopsy specimens were digitalized and stored on 3 DVDs along with the clinical images.

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Analysis of circulating tumor cells (CTC) in the peripheral blood of cutaneous melanoma patients provides information on the metastatic process and potentially improves patient management. The isolation by size of epithelial tumor cells (ISET) is a direct method for CTC identification in which tumor cells are collected by filtration as a result of their large size. So far, ISET has been applied only to CTC detection from epithelial cancer patients, and the technique has never been applied to cutaneous melanoma patients.

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Background: Granulomatous cutaneous T-cell lymphomas (CTCLs) are rare and represent a diagnostic challenge. Only limited data on the clinicopathological and prognostic features of granulomatous CTCLs are available. We studied 19 patients with granulomatous CTCLs to further characterize the clinicopathological, therapeutic, and prognostic features.

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