Blood-based tumor mutational burden impacts clinical outcomes of immune checkpoint inhibitor treated breast and prostate cancers.

Background: Breast and prostate tumors are known to be less responsive to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). Tissue-based tumor mutation burden (tTMB) has emerged as a predictive biomarker of response to ICIs, including in these "cold tumors". In clinical practice, when tTMB is not available, blood-based TMB score (bTMB) can be used to consider treatment with ICIs.

Genomic and transcriptomic landscape of HER2-low breast cancer.

Background: Novel agents have expanded the traditional HER2 definitions to include HER2-Low (HER2L) Breast Cancer (BC). We sought to evaluate the distinct molecular characteristics of HER2L BC to understand potential clinical/biologic factors driving resistance and clinical outcomes.

Methods: Retrospective analysis was performed on 13,613 BC samples, tested at Caris Life Sciences via NextGen DNA/RNA Sequencing.

Evaluating Patient Experience in a Multidisciplinary Breast Cancer Clinic: A Prospective Study.

Multidisciplinary clinics (MDCs) are a care model in which patients see several physicians across specialties and/or other allied health professionals in a single appointment in a shared space. This study sought to better understand patients' experiences with breast cancer (BC) MDC. A total of 429 patients diagnosed with BC and seen in a MDC between November 2020 and November 2021 were invited to participate in a patient experience survey.

Cardiovascular impact of near complete estrogen deprivation in premenopausal women with breast cancer: The CROWN study.

Survival with operable breast cancer has improved markedly in recent decades, however, treatment-related cardiovascular toxicities threaten to offset these gains. Ovarian function suppression paired with aromatase inhibition, for premenopausal women with hormone receptor (HR)-positive breast cancer, is a newer widely adopted therapy with the potential for significant long-term cardiovascular toxicity. Abrupt estrogen deprivation for non-cancer reasons is associated with accelerated coronary artery disease.

Triple Negative Breast Cancer and Brain Metastases.

The treatment of metastatic breast cancer (MBC) has improved over the past decade, however prognosis continues to be mitigated by the fact that about 1 in 5 patients with MBC will develop brain metastases (BrM) during their metastatic disease course. 1 This number is even higher for patients with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), with studies showing as high as 40% of patients developing BrM. 2, 3 Studies have shown that TNBC portends a worse survival after a diagnosis of BrM compared with non-TNBC subtypes.

A Rare Lesion at Rare Location: A Surgeon's Enigma.

Leiomyosarcoma of palate is a rare malignant spindle cell tumour in oral cavity. It is often misdiagnosed with other benign lesions like nodular fasciitis, clinical and histological similarity of rapid growth, rich cellularity, as the pathogenesis is unknown, which can make diagnosis and management challenging. The non-specific clinical, radiologic and pathological presentation of spindle cell tumours causes diagnostic difficulty due to similarities to granulation tissue, benign or malignant lesions in histologic and imaging features.

Cytomorphological pattern analysis of tubercular lymphandenopathies.

Background: The spectrum of morphological pattern in tubercular lymphandenopathies was observed to study the various cytomorphological patterns and their correlation with acid fast bacilli.

Methods: FNAC smears of 210 cases of granulomatous lymphadenitis stained with Giemsa, Pap and haematoxylin and eosin were used to analyze cytomorphological pattern and Zeihl Neelsen stained smears for acid fast bacilli (AFB) detection.

Results: 193 cases with necrotising granulomatous inflammation or positive acid fast bacilli were included.

Effects of Different Contraceptive Methods on Cervico-Vaginal Cytology.

Introduction: The vaginal flora of healthy adult women of reproductive age group constitutes predominantly which inhibits the growth of other microorganisms (by maintaining acidic pH). The vaginal microflora is altered in favour of anaerobes in women using Intra Uterine Contraceptive Device (IUCD). Also, it can cause morphologic changes in both squamous and endocervical columnar cells.

Racemose variant of neurocysticercosis: a case report.

Neurocysticercosis is an important parasitic disease of the central nervous system and constitutes a public health challenge for most of the developing world. Radiological findings may be quite variable. A 50 year old man presented with recent onset generalized tonic-clonic seizures.

Pharmacological benefits of selective modulation of cannabinoid receptor type 2 (CB2) in experimental Alzheimer's disease.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that pervasively affects the population across the world. Currently, there is no effective treatment available for this and existing drugs merely slow the progression of cognitive function decline. Thus, massive effort is required to find an intended therapeutic target to overcome this condition.

Primary anetoderma in a young male involving palms, soles and the scalp: rarest of the rare.

Primary anetoderma is a rare idiopathic disease of the skin, characterized by circumscribed areas of loose skin, and loss of elastic fibers upon histopathologic examination. Two forms are traditionally distinguished, primary and secondary. Primary anetoderma occurs when there is no underlying associated skin disease, whereas the latter refers to an abnormal repair mechanism of preexisting skin lesions.

A study of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia in pregnancy.

Objective: To find the incidence of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) in pregnant women and compare Pap smear with the HPV DNA test in detecting HPV infection.

Materials And Methods: Hundred antenatal women, irrespective of gestational age, were enrolled as subjects in this prospective pilot study for blood investigations, wet mount examination of cervical discharge, Pap smear, and high-risk HPV DNA detection of cervical scrape by PCR. Women showing abnormality in Pap smear and/or those who were high-risk HPV DNA positive were subjected to colposcopy.

Aggressive pilomatrixoma: a diagnostic dilemma on fine-needle aspiration cytology with review of literature.

We report a case of aggressive pilomatrixoma (PMX) in a 25-year-old male who presented with swelling in left supraclavicular region of 2-month duration. A diagnosis of small round cell tumor was suggested on fine-needle aspiration cytology. He underwent wide excision of the mass.

Comparison of routine fixation of tissues with rapid tissue fixation.

Introduction: Conventional formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue provides superior cellular morphology and long-term storage. Problems with formalin fixation comprise delay of fixation and variations in the duration of fixation. Microwave assisted tissue fixation removes the use of noxious and potentially toxic formalin that decreases the turnaround time and creates a personnel friendly workflow.

Types and frequency of preanalytical errors in haematology lab.

Aim: This study was conducted to evaluate the frequency of the preanalytical errors occurring in a haematology laboratory.

Material And Methods: A retrospective study was conducted by collecting and analyzing data in duration of one year in the haematology section of the laboratory. Data for all the preanalytical variables according to the predefined categories were scanned.

Comparative study of processing of haemorrhagic body fluids by using different techniques.

Background: Haemorrhagic fluids are samples which are commonly received for cytological examination. The diagnostic efficacy suffers when large numbers of red blood cells are present in the sample. Haemorrhagic fluids are processed by a variety of techniques and the common goal of each technique is selection and concentration of an adequate number of tumour cells with intact cell morphologies, without losing them during processing.

Heterotopic pancreas in gall bladder associated with chronic cholecystolithiasis.

Heterotopic pancreatic tissue in the gallbladder is a very uncommon lesion, which is an incidental finding in most cases. We report here, a case of an 18-year-old, post puerperal female, suffering from right upper quadrant abdominal pain with a clinical diagnosis of chronic cholecystitis, in whom heterotopic pancreatic tissue was found in the gall bladder.

Stromal endometriosis of the intestine: an elusive presentation with a review of the literature: a case report.

Although endometriosis involves the small intestine only rarely, when present, this condition may simulate a variety of inflammatory and sometimes neoplastic conditions because of its nonspecific symptoms. We are reporting here, a case of ileal, caecal and appendiceal endometriosis which presented in the emergency as a case of an acute intestinal obstruction with a long history of symptoms which were referable to the GI tract. The patient had the diffuse involvement of a segment of the ileum with mural thickening and luminal narrowing, which led to obstruction.

Tuberculosis of the gall bladder clinically mimicking carcinoma--a case report.

Gall bladder tuberculosis is very rare and curable but, sometimes can be confused with the clinical diagnosis like carcinoma. A 32-year-old male presented with acute pain in right abdomen for one month and fever off and on for two months. CT scan (whole abdomen) showed features suggestive of lymphadenopathy although peroperatively no significant lymph node could be identified but there were multiple white patches on gastrohepatic ligament and neck of gall bladder probably which were identified as lymph nodes on scanning.

Isolated cysticercosis cellulosae of sternocleidomastoid muscle: a case report with review of literature.

Human cysticercosis is an infection by the larval stage of the tapeworm. We encountered a rare case of isolated cysticercosis of sternocleidomastoid muscle in a 25 year old female. She presented with 2.

Mucinous carcinoma of breast: Cytodiagnosis of a case.

Mucinous carcinoma of the breast is a relatively rare, pure form accounting for 2% of all breast cancers. Pure mucinous carcinoma of the breast has a favorable prognosis. The common age is postmenopausal group.

Cryptococcosis presenting as anterior neck swelling in an immunocompetent man: a case report.

Background: Cryptococcosis is caused by the encapsulated opportunistic yeast Cryptococcus neoformans. An immunocompromised host is more susceptible to the survival and dissemination of this yeast, which can occur to almost all organs of the body, especially the central nervous system, lungs, bone marrow, gastrointestinal tract, retina, and reticuloendothelial system. However, there are few reports of Cryptococcus causing infections ir immunocompetent hosts.

Clinicomicrobiological profile of women with vaginal discharge.

One hundred and ten patients presenting with vaginal discharge were investigated for microbiological spectrum of vaginitis and outcome of treatment. Laboratory-documented disorder could be ascertained in 86 patients (78%). Bacterial vaginosis was the commonest aetiology (43.