Profiling the immune landscape in mucinous ovarian carcinoma

Objective: Mucinous ovarian carcinoma (MOC) is a rare histotype of ovarian cancer, with low response rates to standard chemotherapy, and very poor survival for patients diagnosed at advanced stage. There is a limited understanding of the MOC immune landscape, and consequently whether immune checkpoint inhibitors could be considered for a subset of patients. Methods: We performed multicolor immunohistochemistry (IHC) and immunofluorescence (IF) on tissue microarrays in a cohort of 126 MOC patients. Cell densities were calculated in the epithelial and stromal components for tumor-associated macrophages (CD68+/PD-L1+, CD68+/PD-L1-), T cells (CD3+/CD8-, CD3+/CD8+), putative T-regulatory cells (Tregs, FOXP3+), B cells (CD20+/CD79A+), plasma cells (CD20-/CD79a+), and PD-L1+ and PD-1+ cells, and compared these values with clinical factors. Univariate and multivariable Cox Proportional Hazards assessed overall survival. Unsupervised k-means clustering identified patient subsets with common patterns of immune cell infiltration. Results: Mean densities of PD1+ cells, PD-L1- macrophages, CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, and FOXP3+ Tregs were higher in the stroma compared to the epithelium. Tumors from advanced (Stage III/IV) MOC had greater epithelial infiltration of PD-L1- macrophages, and fewer PD-L1+ macrophages compared with Stage I/II cancers (p = 0.004 and p = 0.014 respectively). Patients with high epithelial density of FOXP3+ cells, CD8+/FOXP3+ cells, or PD-L1- macrophages, had poorer survival, and high epithelial CD79a + plasma cells conferred better survival, all upon univariate analysis only. Clustering showed that most MOC (86%) had an immune depleted (cold) phenotype, with only a small proportion (11/76,14%) considered immune inflamed (hot) based on T cell and PD-L1 infiltrates. Conclusion: In summary, MOCs are mostly immunogenically ‘cold’, suggesting they may have limited response to current immunotherapies

Percepciones de los maestros sobre la evaluación de la calidad docente en la Educación Superior

"Epub May 29, 2017"Na Educação Superior, a avaliação da qualidade do ensino docente pelos estudantes é amplamente utilizada, apesar das críticas frequentes à sua validade, procedimentos e utilização da informação recolhida. Dez professores de três universidades públicas portuguesas foram entrevistados, tendo-se procedido a uma análise temática exaustiva das mesmas. Os docentes consideram importante que os estudantes avaliem o ensino. Como aspectos positivos, assinalam a oportunidade de escuta aos estudantes e as contribuições daí decorrentes para aprimoramento das práticas pedagógicas. Contudo, as críticas e os aspectos negativos prevalecem, destacando a pouca validade dos inquéritos, a fraca representatividade dos estudantes que respondem ou a falta de uma política institucional de rentabilização da informação recolhida. Algumas implicações são retiradas perspectivando a avaliação e melhoria das práticas pedagógicas.In Higher Education the evaluation of the quality of teaching by students is widely used, despite frequent criticism of its validity, procedures and use of the information collected. Ten teachers from three Portuguese public universities were interviewed, and an exhaustive thematic analysis was performed. Teachers consider important students to evaluate teaching. On the positive side, they point out the opportunity to listen to students and the resulting contributions to improve teaching practices. However, the criticism and the negative aspects prevailed, highlighting the little validity of the surveys, the weak representation of the students who respond, or the lack of institutional policy about the utilization of the information collected. Some implications are presented with a perspective on evaluation and improvement of pedagogical practices.En la Educación Superior la evaluación de la calidad de la enseñanza de los maestros es ampliamente utilizada, pese a las críticas de su validez, a sus procedimientos y al uso de la información recogida. Diez profesores de tres universidades públicas portuguesas fueron entrevistados, y fue realizada una análisis temática exhaustiva. Los maestros consideran importante que los estudiantes evalúen la enseñanza. De manera positiva, apuntan el espacio de escucha de los estudiantes y las contribuciones que este aporta para mejorar las prácticas de enseñanza. Sin embargo, las críticas y los aspectos negativos prevalecieron, destacando la poca validez de los cuestionarios, la débil representación de los estudiantes que responden, o la falta de políticas institucionales sobre la utilización de la información recogida. Se presentan algunas implicaciones con una perspectiva de evaluación y mejora de las prácticas docentes.(undefined)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio