The surgical pathology laboratory in Mwanza, Tanzania: a survey on the reproducibility of diagnoses after the first years of autonomous activity.

Background: In 2000, an Italian non-governmental organisation (NGO) began a 9-year project to establish a surgical pathology laboratory at the Bugando Medical Centre (BMC) in Mwanza, Tanzania, a country with a low Human Development Index (HDI), and as of 2009, the laboratory was operating autonomously. The present survey aims to evaluate the reproducibility of histological and cytological diagnoses assigned in the laboratory's early years of autonomous activity. We selected a random sample of 196 histological and cytological diagnoses issued in 2010-2011 at the BMC surgical pathology laboratory.

Factors affecting false-negative rates on ex vivo sentinel lymph node mapping in colorectal cancer.

Purpose: Despite the increasing use of sentinel lymph node (SLN) mapping after colorectal cancer resection, reported node identification and false-negative rates vary considerably. The main aim of this prospective study was to quantify the false-negative rates on SLN mapping after resection and to evaluate factors influencing them.

Methods: Sixty-nine patients with biopsy-proven cancer of the colon and rectum underwent SLN mapping according to a protocol involving the ex vivo submucosal and peritumoral injection of 2-4 ml of Patent Blue V dye.

Pattern and distribution of immunoglobulin VH gene usage in a cohort of B-CLL patients from a Northeastern region of Italy.

We analyzed individual VH gene rearrangements in 55 consecutive B-chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) patients collected from a northeastern region of Italy, stressing the possible differences related to geographic characteristics of the cohorts studied. Considering the percentage of somatic mutations present in the VH gene sequences and using the 98% cut-off value, 38 of the 55 B-CLL (69%) patients displayed somatic hypermutations and 17 (31%) had a germline configuration. Our results confirm and extend the observations of a bias in the use of certain VH, DH, and JH genes among B-CLL cells.

[Molecular diagnosis of non-Hodgkin B lymphomas by capillary electrophoresis and Genescan analysis: a molecular pathology laboratory experience].

PCR protocols for immunoglobulin heavy chain (IgH) gene rearrangements amplification make easy the NHL-B identification. In this study we analyzed PCR products by Capillary Electrophoresis (CE) and GeneScan (GS) software, wich offers clear advantages over the conventional methods such as agarose gels (AGGE), characterized by hight rate of false negative and false positive results. We suggested some criteria--not included in previous NHL-B issues--useful to a correct analysis of results in GS.

[The Haemolymphopathology Italian Group (H.I.G.): an essential resource for the new technical and organization problems troubling modern haemolymphopathology diagnostics].

Recently, many progresses have been recorded in the molecular and histogenetic characterization of the haematopoietic and lymphoid tumours, resulting in important classifying changes. As a consequence, the exact definition of lymphoma subtype requires an integration between traditional morphologic "expertise" and several bio-functional data obtained from advanced and complex ancillary techniques (immunohistochemistry, molecular biology and cytogenetics). At the same time, the data provided by gene expression profiling studies are going to deeply modify the therapies in haematological cancers.