ctDNA as an Objective Marker for Postoperative Residual Disease in Primary Advanced High-Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer.

Background/objectives: The surgeon's subjective intraoperative evaluation is the standard of care to assess postoperative residual disease (RD) in advanced epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). We investigated the feasibility of ctDNA as an objective marker for postoperative RD.

Methods: This prospective study included 27 patients with advanced ovarian cancer (FIGO IIIA1-IVB) who underwent primary surgery between July 2021 and July 2022.

Prognostic role of transcription factor in patients with endometrial cancer of no specific molecular profile (NSMP) subtype.

Objective: As more than 50% of newly diagnosed endometrial cancers remain classified as 'no specific molecular subtype' (NSMP) due to a lack of established biomarkers to further improve molecular subtyping, this study aims to evaluate the prognostic value of in endometrial cancers of NSMP subtype.

Methods: Prospectively collected molecular profiling data of all consecutive patients with endometrial cancer who underwent primary surgery at our department between August 2017 and June 2022 and for whom both molecular profiling and clinical follow-up data were available were retrospectively evaluated. Tumor specimens were evaluated by combined mismatch repair protein immunohistochemistry and targeted next-generation hotspot sequencing.

Biomarkers for checkpoint inhibitor therapy in mucinous epithelial ovarian cancer.

Objective: The prognosis of patients with advanced stage mucinous epithelial ovarian cancer remains poor due to a modest response to platinum-based chemotherapy and the absence of therapeutic alternatives. As targeted approaches may help to overcome these limitations, the present study evaluates biomarkers indicative of potential immune-checkpoint inhibitor therapy response.

Methods: All patients who underwent primary cytoreductive surgery from January 2001 to December 2020 and for whom formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue samples were available were included (n=35; 12 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage ≥IIb).

Comparative analysis of prognostic histopathologic parameters in subtypes of epithelioid pleural mesothelioma.

Aims: Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a rare malignancy with a dismal prognosis. While the epithelioid type is associated with a more favourable outcome, additional factors are needed to further stratify prognosis and to identify patients who can benefit from multimodal treatment. As epithelioid MPM shows remarkable morphological variability, the prognostic role of the five defined morphologies, the impact of the nuclear grading system and the mitosis-necrosis score were investigated in this study.

CD44 is a RAS/STAT5-regulated invasion receptor that triggers disease expansion in advanced mastocytosis.

The Hermes receptor CD44 is a multifunctional adhesion molecule that plays an essential role in the homing and invasion of neoplastic stem cells in various myeloid malignancies. Although mast cells (MCs) reportedly express CD44, little is known about the regulation and function of this receptor in neoplastic cells in systemic mastocytosis (SM). We found that clonal CD34/CD38 stem cells, CD34/CD38 progenitor cells, and CD117/CD34 MCs invariably express CD44 in patients with indolent SM (ISM), SM with an associated hematologic neoplasm, aggressive SM, and MC leukemia (MCL).

Antibiotic treatment as sole management of Helicobacter pylori-negative gastric MALT lymphoma: a single center experience with prolonged follow-up.

Relatively little is known about the long-term outcome of patients with Helicobacter pylori (HP)-negative gastric lymphoma of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT lymphoma) with antibiotic therapy as sole management. We have analyzed all patients with HP-negative gastric MALT lymphoma undergoing antibiotic therapy as sole management of their disease. HP negativity was defined as negative histology, breath test and serology, and response to treatment, survival and long-term outcome was assessed together with clinico-pathological characteristics including t(11; 18) (q21; q21) translocation.

Identification of basophils as a major source of hepatocyte growth factor in chronic myeloid leukemia: a novel mechanism of BCR-ABL1-independent disease progression.

Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is a hematopoietic neoplasm characterized by the Philadelphia chromosome and the related BCR-ABL1 oncoprotein. Acceleration of CML is usually accompanied by basophilia. Several proangiogenic molecules have been implicated in disease acceleration, including the hepatocyte growth factor (HGF).

High expression of Dicer reveals a negative prognostic influence in certain subtypes of primary cutaneous T cell lymphomas.

Background: Aberrant expression of microRNAs (miRNAs) has been implicated in oncogenesis of various tumors and primary cutaneous T cell lymphomas. Dicer, a ribonuclease III-like enzyme is essential for miRNA processing.

Objective: We initiated a retrospective study to characterize the alterations in the expression profile of Dicer in patients with primary cutaneous T cell lymphomas (CTCL).

Detection of gastric MALT lymphoma spreading to the small bowel by enteroscopy.

Mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma is thought to be a multifocal disease with sometimes synchronous involvement of various mucosal structures. In this study we aimed to evaluate the potential involvement of the small bowel in patients suffering from gastric MALT lymphoma by analyzing the results of enteroscopy, a technique that allows easy and safe access to the small bowel with the potential for histological assessment of biopsy samples. We have retrospectively evaluated 347 enteroscopies and found nine patients with gastric MALT lymphoma who had undergone push enteroscopy with serial biopsies during staging.

90Y-ibritumomab tiuxetan (Zevalin) in heavily pretreated patients with mucosa associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma.

Radioimmunotherapy using (90)Y-ibritumomab tiuxetan has predominantly been used in patients with follicular lymphoma, but little is known about its activity in patients with extranodal marginal zone lymphoma of the mucosa associated lymphoid tissue (MALT). A total of six patients progressing/relapsing following conventional therapy for MALT lymphoma were treated with (90)Y-ibritumomab tiuxetan at our institution. Two patients had gastric MALT lymphoma, one suffered from orbital MALT lymphoma, and two had cutaneous MALT lymphoma, while one patient had a widely disseminated lymphoma involving the stomach, lungs, lymph nodes, and salivary glands.

Rituximab monotherapy for primary cutaneous B-cell lymphoma: response and follow-up in 16 patients.

Background: We have carried out a retrospective analysis to evaluate the therapeutic value of the anti-CD20 antibody rituximab in 16 consecutive patients with primary cutaneous CD20+ B-cell lymphomas.

Patients And Methods: Sixteen patients (4 females, 12 males) with a median age of 54 years received systemic therapy with rituximab 375 mg/m(2) once weekly for four or six consecutive weeks. Eleven patients had primary cutaneous follicle center cell lymphoma and five patients had a primary cutaneous marginal zone B-cell lymphoma.

Assessment of the role of hepatitis C, Helicobacter pylori and autoimmunity in MALT lymphoma of the ocular adnexa in 45 Austrian patients.

Introduction: A recent series from Italy has suggested a pathogenic link between hepatitis C virus and MALT lymphoma of the ocular adnexa. The hypothesis of our study was to prove this concept in Austrian patients with MALT lymphoma of the ocular adnexa.

Materials And Methods: A total of 45 patients presenting with MALT lymphoma of the ocular adnexa were assessed for the presence of infection with hepatitis A, B and C.

Expression of vascular endothelial growth factor and its receptors in canine lymphoma.

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) stimulates endothelial cell proliferation and has a pivotal role in tumour angiogenesis. The expression of VEGF and its receptors VEGFR-1 and VEGFR-2 was examined immunohistochemically in 43 specimens of canine lymphoma and in six normal lymph nodes. Western blotting and reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) were performed to detect VEGF protein and mRNA, respectively.