Publications by authors named "W Van den Bogaert"
Defining, exploring the sources and expressing post-mortem diagnostic uncertainty.
Forensic Sci Med Pathol
December 2024
Article Synopsis
- Diagnostic uncertainty in post-mortem diagnostics (PMD) arises from the complexity of autopsies and both subjective and objective factors that complicate determining the cause of death.
- A literature review identified a lack of focused studies on PMD uncertainty, but recognized its presence and introduced a definition as the inability to ascertain the exact cause of death or significance of findings during an autopsy.
- To address this uncertainty, a new Post-Mortem Diagnostic Certainty Scale (PMDCS) was developed, which categorizes causes of death to improve understanding and interpretation of autopsy results, potentially reducing uncertainty through standardized investigations.
Background: The adipose tissue may serve as a source of energy supporting cancer growth and metastasis. Our understanding of the adipocytes which compose the adipose tissue in different anatomical locations of the body as well as potential microscopic tumor infiltration in patients with metastatic breast cancer remains limited. This study therefore investigates regional variations in adipocyte size and adipose tissue tumor infiltration in patients with metastatic breast cancer.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFForensic autopsies remain indispensable for accurately determining the cause and manner of death. However, pathologists face significant challenges inherent to the complex process of postmortem diagnostics (PMD), including the potential for diagnostic errors. The implementation of quality assurance (QA) mechanisms is crucial for minimizing these errors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe immune landscape of hormone receptor-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative metastatic breast cancer (HR+/HER2- mBC), the most common subtype of BC, remains understudied. This is mainly because of reduced sample acquisition opportunities from metastases as compared with primary tumors. In this study, we explored stromal tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (sTIL) in metastatic samples collected through our post-mortem tissue donation program UZ/KU Leuven Post-mortem Tissue Donation program to Enhance Research (NCT04531696).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFResearch on metastatic cancer has been hampered by limited sample availability. Here we present the breast cancer post-mortem tissue donation program UPTIDER and show how it enabled sampling of a median of 31 (range: 5-90) metastases and 5-8 liquids per patient from its first 20 patients. In a dedicated experiment, we show the mild impact of increasing time after death on RNA quality, transcriptional profiles and immunohistochemical staining in tumor tissue samples.
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