Preoperative Magnetic Resonance Guided Single-Dose Partial Breast Irradiation: 5-Year Results of the Prospective Single-Arm ABLATIVE Trial.

Purpose: Preoperative partial breast irradiation (PBI) can increase accuracy of target volume definition and decrease irradiated volumes compared with postoperative PBI. In the ABLATIVE trial (NCT02316561), 15 of 36 patients achieved pathologic complete response 6 to 8 months after preoperative PBI and breast-conserving surgery (BCS). We now present the 5-year results.

Clinical implementation of artificial-intelligence-assisted detection of breast cancer metastases in sentinel lymph nodes: the CONFIDENT-B single-center, non-randomized clinical trial.

Pathologists' assessment of sentinel lymph nodes (SNs) for breast cancer (BC) metastases is a treatment-guiding yet labor-intensive and costly task because of the performance of immunohistochemistry (IHC) in morphologically negative cases. This non-randomized, single-center clinical trial (International Standard Randomized Controlled Trial Number:14323711) assessed the efficacy of an artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted workflow for detecting BC metastases in SNs while maintaining diagnostic safety standards. From September 2022 to May 2023, 190 SN specimens were consecutively enrolled and allocated biweekly to the intervention arm (n = 100) or control arm (n = 90).

Interobserver Variation in the Assessment of Immunohistochemistry Expression Levels in HER2-Negative Breast Cancer: Can We Improve the Identification of Low Levels of HER2 Expression by Adjusting the Criteria? An International Interobserver Study.

The classification of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) expression is optimized to detect HER2-amplified breast cancer (BC). However, novel HER2-targeting agents are also effective for BCs with low levels of HER2. This raises the question whether the current guidelines for HER2 testing are sufficiently reproducible to identify HER2-low BC.

Dynamic Contrast-enhanced and Diffusion-weighted Magnetic Resonance Imaging for Response Evaluation After Single-Dose Ablative Neoadjuvant Partial Breast Irradiation.

Purpose: We aimed to evaluate changes in dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) and diffusion-weighted (DW) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans acquired before and after single-dose ablative neoadjuvant partial breast irradiation (NA-PBI), and explore the relation between semiquantitative MRI parameters and radiologic and pathologic responses.

Methods And Materials: We analyzed 3.0T DCE and DW-MRI of 36 patients with low-risk breast cancer who were treated with single-dose NA-PBI, followed by breast-conserving surgery 6 or 8 months later.

Interobserver Agreement of PD-L1/SP142 Immunohistochemistry and Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes (TILs) in Distant Metastases of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: A Proof-of-Concept Study. A Report on Behalf of the International Immuno-Oncology Biomarker Working Group.

Patients with advanced triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) benefit from treatment with atezolizumab, provided that the tumor contains ≥1% of PD-L1/SP142-positive immune cells. Numbers of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) vary strongly according to the anatomic localization of TNBC metastases. We investigated inter-pathologist agreement in the assessment of PD-L1/SP142 immunohistochemistry and TILs.

Fat causes necrosis and inflammation in parenchymal cells in human steatotic liver.

Adapted fixation methods for electron microscopy allowed us to study liver cell fine structure in 217 biopsies of intact human livers over the course of 10 years. The following novel observations and concepts arose: single fat droplets in parenchymal cells can grow to a volume four times larger than the original cell, thereby extremely marginalizing the cytoplasm with all organelles. Necrosis of single parenchymal cells, still containing one huge fat droplet, suggests death by fat in a process of single-cell steatonecrosis.

Deep learning-based grading of ductal carcinoma in situ in breast histopathology images.

Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is a non-invasive breast cancer that can progress into invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC). Studies suggest DCIS is often overtreated since a considerable part of DCIS lesions may never progress into IDC. Lower grade lesions have a lower progression speed and risk, possibly allowing treatment de-escalation.

Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes in Low-Risk Patients With Breast Cancer Treated With Single-Dose Preoperative Partial Breast Irradiation.

Purpose: Preoperative partial breast irradiation (PBI) has the potential to induce tumor regression. We evaluated the differences in the numbers of preirradiation tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) between responders and nonresponders after preoperative PBI in low-risk patients with breast cancer. Furthermore, we evaluated the change in number of TILs before and after irradiation.

Digital pathology in the time of corona.

The 2020 COVID-19 crisis has had and will have many implications for healthcare, including pathology. Rising number of infections create staffing shortages and other hospital departments might require pathology employees to fill more urgent positions. Furthermore, lockdown measures and social distancing cause many people to work from home.

Advanced oxidation processes for waste water treatment: from laboratory-scale model water to on-site real waste water.

A process combining three steps has been developed as a tertiary treatment for waste water in order to remove micropollutants not eliminated by a conventional waste water treatment plant (WWTP). These three processes are ozonation, photocatalysis and granulated activated carbon adsorption. This process has been developed through three scales: laboratory, pilot and pre-industrial scale.

Patient-Derived Ovarian Cancer Organoids Mimic Clinical Response and Exhibit Heterogeneous Inter- and Intrapatient Drug Responses.

There remains an unmet need for preclinical models to enable personalized therapy for ovarian cancer (OC) patients. Here we evaluate the capacity of patient-derived organoids (PDOs) to predict clinical drug response and functional consequences of tumor heterogeneity. We included 36 whole-genome-characterized PDOs from 23 OC patients with known clinical histories.

Assessing the origin of high-grade serous ovarian cancer using CRISPR-modification of mouse organoids.

High-grade serous ovarian cancer (HG-SOC)-often referred to as a "silent killer"-is the most lethal gynecological malignancy. The fallopian tube (murine oviduct) and ovarian surface epithelium (OSE) are considered the main candidate tissues of origin of this cancer. However, the relative contribution of each tissue to HG-SOC is not yet clear.

The effect of an e-learning module on grading variation of (pre)malignant breast lesions.

Histologic grade is a biomarker that is widely used to guide treatment of invasive breast cancer (IBC) and ductal carcinoma in situ of the breast (DCIS). Yet, currently, substantial grading variation between laboratories and pathologists exists in daily pathology practice. This study was conducted to evaluate whether an e-learning may be a feasible tool to decrease grading variation of (pre)malignant breast lesions.

Tumor Response After Neoadjuvant Magnetic Resonance Guided Single Ablative Dose Partial Breast Irradiation.

Purpose: To assess the pathologic and radiologic response in patients with low-risk breast cancer treated with magnetic resonance (MR) guided neoadjuvant partial breast irradiation (NA-PBI) and to evaluate toxicity and patient-reported outcomes (PROs).

Methods And Materials: For this single-arm prospective trial, women with unifocal, non-lobular tumors with a maximum diameter of 20 mm (age, 50-70 years) or 30 mm (age, ≥70 years) and tumor-negative sentinel node(s) were eligible. Patients were treated with a single ablative dose of NA-PBI followed by breast-conserving surgery after an interval of 6 to 8 months.

Advanced photocatalytic oxidation processes for micropollutant elimination from municipal and industrial water.

The objective of this study was to develop and validate an innovative technology to ensure efficient elimination of different types of micropollutants and toxic compounds in waste water. The process is a tertiary treatment process, which can be easily integrated into municipal and industrial waste water treatment plants. It is based on oxidation by ozone and subsequent photocatalytic treatment.

Sol-gel Syntheses of Photocatalysts for the Removal of Pharmaceutical Products in Water.

A screening study on seven photocatalysts was performed to identify the best candidate for pharmaceutical products degradation in water. Photocatalysts were deposited as thin films through a sol-gel process and subsequent dip-coating on glass slides. The efficiency of each photocatalyst was assessed through the degradation of methylene blue first, and then, through the degradation of 15 different pharmaceutical products.

3-D EM exploration of the hepatic microarchitecture - lessons learned from large-volume in situ serial sectioning.

To-date serial block-face scanning electron microscopy (SBF-SEM) dominates as the premier technique for generating three-dimensional (3-D) data of resin-embedded biological samples at an unprecedented depth volume. Given the infancy of the technique, limited literature is currently available regarding the applicability of SBF-SEM for the ultrastructural investigation of tissues. Herein, we provide a comprehensive and rigorous appraisal of five different SBF-SEM sample preparation protocols for the large-volume exploration of the hepatic microarchitecture at an unparalleled X, Y and Z resolution.

Sinusoidal obstruction syndrome (SOS): A light and electron microscopy study in human liver.

Aims: Oxaliplatin is an important chemotherapeutic agent, used in the treatment of hepatic colorectal metastases, and known to induce the sinusoidal obstruction syndrome (SOS). Pathophysiological knowledge concerning SOS is based on a rat model. Therefore, the aim was to perform a comprehensive study of the features of human SOS, using both light microscopy (LM) and electron microscopy (EM).

Hyaluronic acid as a marker of hepatic sinusoidal obstruction syndrome secondary to oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy in patients with colorectal liver metastases.

Background: A considerable number of patients develop sinusoidal obstruction syndrome (SOS) after oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy for colorectal liver metastases (CLMs). SOS is associated with adverse outcomes after major hepatectomy. Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a marker of hepatic sinusoidal endothelial cell function and may serve as an accurate marker of SOS.

Glutathione S-transferase M1-null genotype as risk factor for SOS in oxaliplatin-treated patients with metastatic colorectal cancer.

Background: Oxaliplatin is used as a neo-adjuvant therapy in hepatic colorectal carcinoma metastasis. This treatment has significant side effects, as oxaliplatin is toxic to the sinusoidal endothelial cells and can induce sinusoidal obstruction syndrome (SOS), which is related to decreased overall survival. Glutathione has an important role in the defence system, catalysed by glutathione S-transferase (GST), including two non-enzyme producing polymorphisms (GSTM1-null and GSTT1-null).