Quality Assurance in Immunocytochemistry: A Review and Practical Considerations.

Background: Cytological samples play a critical role in diagnosing advanced-stage tumors and those arising in difficult-to-reach anatomical sites such as the pancreatobiliary tract, lung, thyroid, suprarenal, pelvis, and others such as salivary glands. These samples are often the only available material for accurate diagnosis and for performing ancillary studies, such as immunocytochemistry (ICC) or the detection of molecular biomarkers.

Summary: While the use of immunohistochemistry is well established and standardized on formalin-fixed-paraffin-embedded histological tissue, in cytological samples, it presents unique challenges.

Tracking dynamic evolution of low- and intermediate-risk differentiated thyroid cancer: Identification of individuals at risk of recurrence.

Objective: The generally good prognosis of low- and intermediate-risk differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) underscored the need to identify those few patients who relapse.

Design: Records of 299 low- or intermediate-risk DTC patients (mean follow-up 8.2 ± 6.

Practical issues related to immunocytochemistry on cytological smears: Tips and recommendations.

Objective: Immunocytochemistry (ICC) is essential for enhancing diagnostic accuracy and identifying markers for diagnosis, prognosis and targeted therapies. While cell blocks (CBs) are preferred for standardization and optimized staining, cytological smears are an alternative when CBs are unavailable. However, the literature on ICC protocols for smears is sparse.

Spatially resolved tissue imaging to analyze the tumor immune microenvironment: beyond cell-type densities.

Introduction: The tissue immune microenvironment is associated with key aspects of tumor biology. The interaction between the immune system and cancer cells has predictive and prognostic potential across different tumor types. Spatially resolved tissue-based technologies allowed researchers to simultaneously quantify different immune populations in tumor samples.

The World Health Organization Reporting System for Pancreaticobiliary Cytopathology: Overview and Summary.

The recently published WHO Reporting System for Pancreaticobiliary Cytopathology (World Health Organization [WHO] System) is an international approach to the standardized reporting of pancreaticobiliary cytopathology, updating the Papanicolaou Society of Cytopathology System for Reporting Pancreaticobiliary Cytology (PSC System). Significant changes were made to the categorization of benign neoplasms, intraductal neoplasms, mucinous cystic neoplasms, and malignant neoplasms considered low grade. Benign neoplasms, such as serous cystadenoma, categorized as Neoplastic: benign in the PSC system, are categorized as Benign/negative for malignancy in the WHO system.

An odd dancing couple. Non-small cell lung carcinoma with coexisting EGFR mutation and NTRK-1 translocation: A case report.

In the 21st century, there has been a dramatic shift in the diagnosis and management of non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC), with an increasing use of minimally invasive tissue acquisition methods. Current treatments require morphologic subtyping and biomarker information in all cases. Determining such biomarkers is a continuously evolving field; current guidelines state that the determination of mutations on the Epidermal Growth Factor (EFGR), Kirsten Rat Sarcoma viral oncogene homolog (KRAS), Proto-oncogene B-Raf (BRAF), Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) and Anaplastic Lymphoma Kinase (ALK), genes as well as fusions on genes such as ROS Proto-Oncogene 1, Receptor Tyrosine Kinase (ROS1), MET proto-oncogene, receptor tyrosine kinase (MET), RET proto-oncogene (RET), and the Neurotrophic Tyrosine Receptor Kinase (NTRK) family is mandatory.

#Pathart and cytopathology: Beauty must be shared.

Objective: There is beauty in cytopathology. That beauty and art can be transmitted and shared through fun images on social media.

Methods: As social media becomes more popular, pathologists and related professionals have started to share the images that they capture at work on their profiles, tagging them with the hashtag #Pathart.

Lung Cancer Screening in People With COPD: The Pamplona-IELCAP Experience.

Introduction: The Global Initiative for Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) recommends lung cancer screening for patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), but data is lacking regarding results of screening in this high-risk population. The main goal of the present work is to explore if lung cancer screening with Low Dose Chest Tomography (LDCT) in people with COPD, allows lung cancer (LC) diagnosis in early stages with survival compatible with curative state.

Methods: This is a post hoc exploratory analysis.

Immunotherapy and lung cytopathology: Overview and possibilities.

Immunotherapy has become a promising cancer treatment in the past decade, and IHC is the most commonly used testing method for PDL-1/PD1 evaluation. In general, PD-L1 assays can be performed on both FFPE specimens and cytological samples. However, their use on smears is not yet well-established or validated.

[New update to the guidelines on testing predictive biomarkers in non-small-cell lung cancer: a National Consensus of the Spanish Society of Pathology and the Spanish Society of Medical Oncology].

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) presents the greatest number of identified therapeutic targets, some of which have therapeutic utility. Currently, detecting EGFR, BRAF, KRAS and MET mutations, ALK, ROS1, NTRK and RET translocations, and PD-L1 expression in these patients is considered essential. The use of next-generation sequencing (NGS) facilitates precise molecular diagnosis and allows the detection of other emerging mutations, such as the HER2 mutation and predictive biomarkers for immunotherapy responses.

A brief review of the WHO reporting system for pancreaticobiliary cytopathology.

The World Health Organization (WHO), the International Academy of Cytology, and the International Agency for Research on Cancer have developed an approach to standardized reporting of pancreaticobiliary cytopathology. The WHO Reporting System for Pancreaticobiliary Cytopathology (WHO System) revises the Papanicolaou Society of Cytopathology (PSC) System for Reporting Pancreaticobiliary Cytology published in 2015 and replaces the 6 PSC categories with 7 categories: "Insufficient/Inadequate/Nondiagnostic"; "Benign/Negative for malignancy"; "Atypical"; "Pancreaticobiliary neoplasm, low risk/grade (PaN-low)"; "Pancreatic neoplasm, high risk/grade (PaN-High)"; "Suspicious for malignancy"; and "Malignant". In the PSC system, there is a single category for "Neoplastic" lesions that includes 2 groups, 1 for benign neoplasms and 1 named "Neoplastic-other", dominated by premalignant intraductal neoplasms primarily intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms and low-grade malignant neoplasms (pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PanNET) and solid pseudopapillary neoplasms (SPN).

Weakly supervised deep learning to predict recurrence in low-grade endometrial cancer from multiplexed immunofluorescence images.

Predicting recurrence in low-grade, early-stage endometrial cancer (EC) is both challenging and clinically relevant. We present a weakly-supervised deep learning framework, NaroNet, that can learn, without manual expert annotation, the complex tumor-immune interrelations at three levels: local phenotypes, cellular neighborhoods, and tissue areas. It uses multiplexed immunofluorescence for the simultaneous visualization and quantification of CD68 + macrophages, CD8 + T cells, FOXP3 + regulatory T cells, PD-L1/PD-1 protein expression, and tumor cells.

Modification of Breast Cancer Milieu with Chemotherapy plus Dendritic Cell Vaccine: An Approach to Select Best Therapeutic Strategies.

Background: The addition of dendritic cell vaccines (DCV) to NAC could induce immune responses in those patients with residual disease (RD) by transforming the tumor microenvironment.

Methods: Core diagnostic biopsies and surgical specimens from 80 patients (38 in the vaccinated group plus NAC (VG) and 42 in the control group (CG, treated only with NAC) were selected. We quantify TILs (CD8, CD4 and CD45RO) using immunohistochemistry and the automated cellular imaging system (ACIS III) in paired samples.

Functional Engagement of the PD-1/PD-L1 Complex But Not PD-L1 Expression Is Highly Predictive of Patient Response to Immunotherapy in Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer.

Purpose: In many cancers, the expression of immunomodulatory ligands leads to immunoevasion, as exemplified by the interaction of PD-L1 with PD-1 on tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes. Profound advances in cancer treatments have come with the advent of immunotherapies directed at blocking these immuno-suppressive ligand-receptor interactions. However, although there has been success in the use of these immune checkpoint interventions, correct patient stratification for these therapies has been challenging.

Recommendations for optimizing the use of cytology in the diagnosis and management of patients with lung cancer.

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is one of the oncological entities with the greatest evolution in molecular diagnosis due to the large number of diagnostic biomarkers and new treatments approved by international regulatory agencies. An accurate, early diagnosis using the least amount of tissue is the goal for the establishing and developing precision medicine for these patients. Rapid on-site evaluation (ROSE) provides cytological samples of optimal quantity and quality for a complete diagnosis of NSCLC.

New update to the guidelines on testing predictive biomarkers in non-small-cell lung cancer: a National Consensus of the Spanish Society of Pathology and the Spanish Society of Medical Oncology.

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) presents the greatest number of identified therapeutic targets, some of which have therapeutic utility. Currently, detecting EGFR, BRAF, KRAS and MET mutations, ALK, ROS1, NTRK and RET translocations, and PD-L1 expression in these patients is considered essential. The use of next-generation sequencing facilitates precise molecular diagnosis and allows the detection of other emerging mutations, such as the HER2 mutation and predictive biomarkers for immunotherapy responses.

Characterization of Human Papillomavirus 16 from Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of the Congo)-Implications for Pathogenicity and Vaccine Effectiveness.

Human Papillomavirus (HPV) type 16 is the main etiological agent of cervical cancer worldwide. Mutations within the virus genome may lead to an increased risk of cancer development and decreased vaccine response, but there is a lack of information about strains circulating in Sub-Saharan Africa. Endocervical cytology samples were collected from 480 women attending a voluntary cervical cancer screening program at Monkole Hospital and four outpatient centers in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

The World Health Organization Reporting System for Pancreaticobiliary Cytopathology.

The World Health Organization (WHO), the International Academy of Cytology, and the International Agency for Research on Cancer, with expert contributors from around the world, present an international approach to standardized reporting of pancreaticobiliary cytopathology. This reporting system is one of the first in a series from various body sites that mirror the WHO Classification of Tumours series and provides an evidence-based terminology system with associated risk of malignancy and diagnostic management recommendation per diagnostic category. The WHO Reporting System for Pancreaticobiliary Cytopathology (WHO system) revises the Papanicolaou Society of Cytopathology (PSC) system for Reporting Pancreaticobiliary Cytology published in 2015 and replaces the six-tiered system with a seven-tiered system: "insufficient/inadequate/nondiagnostic"; "benign (negative for malignancy)," "atypical," "pancreaticobiliary neoplasm of low risk/low grade," "pancreatic neoplasm of high risk/high grade," "suspicious for malignancy," and "malignant.

Molecular/biomarker testing in lung cytology: A practical approach.

The increasing comprehension of molecular mechanisms underlying lung cancer and the discovery of targetable genomic alterations has dramatically change the pathological approach to lung cancer, especially non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This unstoppable knowledge has taken pathologists to the leading front on lung cancer management. This is especially relevant in the world of cytopathology where "doing more with less" is a daily challenge.

Overview and update on molecular testing in non-small cell lung carcinoma utilizing endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) samples.

Lung carcinoma remains one of the most frequent and aggressive human neoplasms. Fortunately, in the last decades, the increasing knowledge of the molecular mechanisms leading to cancer development has allowed the use of targeted therapies with improvement of prognosis in many patients. Clinical management has also changed after the introduction of endobronchialultrasonographic bronchoscopy that allows a conservative staging of lung tumors, avoiding the need of mediastinoscopy for lymph node staging.

Neutrophil Extracellular Traps, Local IL-8 Expression, and Cytotoxic T-Lymphocyte Response in the Lungs of Patients With Fatal COVID-19.

Background: Excessive inflammation is pathogenic in the pneumonitis associated with severe COVID-19. Neutrophils are among the most abundantly present leukocytes in the inflammatory infiltrates and may form neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) under the local influence of cytokines. NETs constitute a defense mechanism against bacteria, but have also been shown to mediate tissue damage in a number of diseases.