Publications by authors named "Vivienne Lea"

Article Synopsis
  • The study compares two methods, immunohistochemistry (IHC) and droplet digital PCR (ddPCR), for detecting microsatellite instability (MSI) in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients and finds high agreement between the two techniques.
  • Analysis reveals that patients with MSI-high have better overall and disease-free survival compared to those with microsatellite stability (MSS), particularly in right-sided CRC cases.
  • The research suggests that ddPCR is a valuable tool for MSI detection and highlights the differing impacts of MSI-high and loss of MLH1 expression on patient outcomes in CRC, indicating that both methods can be useful for prognostic assessments.
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and mutation rates in colorectal cancer (CRC) reported from various mono-ethnic studies vary amongst different ethnic groups. However, these differences in mutation rates may not be statistically significant or may be due to differences in environmental and/or laboratory factors across countries rather than racial genetic differences. Here, we compare the / mutation rates and survival outcomes in CRC between ethnic groups at a single institution.

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Article Synopsis
  • Next generation sequencing (NGS) helps identify actionable mutations in metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) patients, with a focus on different mutation tiers based on the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) Scale.
  • A study of 180 CRC tissue samples revealed that 82% had mutations, including Tier I variants like RAS wild-type and BRAF V600E, and found that concurrent mutations were common, impacting survival outcomes.
  • Notably, patients with TP53 and RAS mutations had shorter survivals, and high KRAS allele frequency correlated with reduced overall survival, indicating the importance of genomic profiling in treatment decisions.
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Background: The standard of care in newly diagnosed metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is to test for aberrations in three genes for driver mutations - ALK, ROS1 and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) - and also for immunohistochemistry to be performed for programmed death-ligand 1 expression level. Next-generation sequencing (NGS), with or without RNA fusion testing, is increasingly used in standard clinical practice to identify patients with potentially actionable mutations. Stratification of NGS mutation tiers is currently based on the European Society of Medical Oncology Scale for Clinical Actionability of Molecular Targets (ESCAT) Tiers I-V and X.

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Meiotic recombination 11 (MRE11) plays a critical role in the DNA damage response and maintenance of genome stability and is associated with the prognosis for numerous malignancies. Here, we explored the clinicopathological significance and prognostic value of MRE11 expression in colorectal cancer (CRC), a leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Samples from 408 patients who underwent surgery for colon and rectal cancer between 2006 and 2011, including a sub-cohort of 127 (31%) patients treated with adjuvant therapy, were analyzed.

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Introduction: This paper describes a case of bi-frontal vasogenic oedema associated with bilateral frontal lobe and left parietal lobe white matter lesions where extensive investigations, including brain biopsy, failed to establish a diagnosis.

Case Report: A 67-year-old female presented with three weeks' history of memory loss, fatigue, insomnia, nausea, and occasional dysphasia. Physical examination was unremarkable, yet cerebral CT and MRI showed bilateral frontal lobe vasogenic oedema.

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We report the case of a 24-year-old man who presented with a 5-week history of painful right inguinal lymphadenopathy, weight loss and non-ulcerative foreskin mass. The patient's symptoms progressed despite initial antibiotic therapy. The foreskin mass was clinically suspicious for squamous cell carcinoma; however, histopathology of both the foreskin mass and inguinal lymph node showed necrotising granulomatous inflammation.

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The DNA damage response enables cells to survive and maintain genome integrity. RAD52 is a DNA-binding protein involved in the homologous recombination in DNA repair, and is important for the maintenance of tumour genome integrity. We investigated possible correlations between RAD52 expression and cancer survival and response to preoperative radiotherapy.

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Background: Criteria for the pathological classification of adult adrenocortical tumours (ACTs) have been found to overestimate the malignant potential of childhood ACTs. We sought to evaluate the accuracy and utility of criteria developed for paediatric ACT compared to current criteria for adults.

Methods: ACTs treated between January 2006 and December 2016 in two paediatric institutions were evaluated.

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Background: The MRE11/RAD50/NBS1 (MRN) complex plays an essential role in detecting and repairing double-stranded breaks, and thus the potential roles of MRE11, RAD50 and NBS1 proteins in the pathogenesis of various cancers is the subject of investigation. This study was aimed at assessing the three-protein panel of MRN complex subunits as a potential radiosensitivity marker and evaluating the prognostic and clinicopathological implications of MRN expression in rectal cancer.

Methods: Samples from 265 rectal cancer patients treated with surgery and adjuvant chemoradiotherapy, including samples from 55 patients who were treated with neoadjuvant radiotherapy between 2000 and 2011, were analyzed.

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Background: Molecular biomarkers have the potential to predict response to the treatment of rectal cancer. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the prognostic and clinicopathological implication of RAD50 (DNA repair protein RAD50 homolog) expression in rectal cancer.

Methods: A total of 266 rectal cancer patients who underwent surgery and received chemo- and radiotherapy between 2000 and 2011 were involved in the study.

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Background: Tubular carcinoma (TC) of the breast has a very favourable prognosis. The role for axillary staging in small TC was questioned. This study investigated the frequency of axillary metastases and prognostic factors in pure TC of the breast.

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