Cervicovaginal cytology in patients undergoing pelvic radiotherapy using the Focalpoint system: results from the RODEO study

BackgroundEvaluate the performance of the Focalpoint system in identifying and classifying cervical cytology alterations from samples collected from patients treated with Radiotherapy (RT).MethodsThe reproducibility of manual and automated screening by cytotechnologists using the BD Focalpoint GS Imaging System was examined. Samples were collected from May 2010 to August 2011.ResultsA total of 378 treated with RT and 8,967 cytology samples from patients without previous RT, were evaluated. The kappa values for cytological diagnoses read manually and automated in cases without previous RT were as follows: < ASC-H vs. ¿ ASC-H¿=¿0.71; < LSIL vs. ¿ LSIL¿=¿0.66; and¿<¿HSIL vs. ¿ HSIL¿=¿0.67. The kappa for cytological diagnoses in post-RT women have showed: < ASC-H vs. ¿ ASC-H¿=¿0.71; < LSIL vs. ¿ LSIL¿=¿0.65; < HSIL vs. ¿ HSIL¿=¿0.57.ConclusionsThere was no significant difference among the kappa values we found. Post-RT cytology showed small diagnostic agreement between manual and automated examination.The authors are indebted to BD Brazil, which partially supported the study by providing the SurePath (TM) collection kits and equipment. The study design, screening, statistical analyses, and manuscript writing were independently performed by the Center for the Researcher Support of the Barretos Cancer Hospital

Performance and Reproducibility of Gynecologic Cytology Interpretation Using the FocalPoint System

Objectives: To assess whether automated screening in the cytologic examination of Papanicolaou smear slides results in smaller margins of error than manual screening. Methods: We compared cytotechnologists’ performance and reproducibility of manual and automated screening of 10,165 consecutive cervical cytology slides examined at Barretos Cancer Hospital using the FocalPoint system. Results: In total, 83% of atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance and greater were classified as quintiles 1 and 2; no high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions and greater were observed in quintile 5. No statistically significant differences were found between manual and automated screening, using cervical biopsy specimens as the gold standard. Conclusions: FocalPoint safely screened high-grade lesions, which can be valuable for high-workload routines

The usefulness of an Online Simplified Screening Questionnaire (SSQ) in identifying work-related cancers

To obtain a history of occupational exposure in the workplace, the questionnaire is one of the main sources of information. The aim of this study was to develop an online questionnaire using the REDCap data management platform based on the Work-Related Cancer Surveillance Guidelines, reported by the Brazilian National Cancer Institute. Several issues were taken into consideration for its routine application. It should be simple, easy, capable of being applied in a short time and used in the clinical setting of collecting information on the occupational history of the cancer patient. Consequently, this could enable the compulsory notification of work-related cancer. The questionnaire was developed based on questions about the use of and exposure to carcinogenic factors at work and due to smoking. An entirely electronic version of the cancer patient interview was performed using tablets. The online questionnaire was applied at the Barretos Cancer Hospital, Barretos, to newly diagnosed patients from July 2016 to 2018. A total of 1063 patients were included, and 550 indicated positively when asked “Do you work, or have you worked with this substance and/or in this function?/job?” Of these potentially notified patients, 38 subsequently had compulsorily reported work-related cancer. Another important result of this study was the creation and development of a website. In conclusion, we developed an online tool that could facilitate hospital routines, contributing to generating data for the compulsory notification of work-related cancer and triggering investigations and surveillance actions in Brazil.This research was funded by Barretos Cancer Hospital and the Public Ministry of Labor Campinas (Research, Prevention and Education of Occupational Cancer). Vazquez, F.L. is supported by the Public Ministry of Labor Campinas (Research, Prevention, and Education of Occupational Cancer) in Campinas, Brazil

Clinical characteristics of women diagnosed with carcinoma who tested positive for cervical and anal high-risk human papillomavirus DNA and E6 RNA

High-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) is an essential cause of cervical carcinoma and is also strongly related to anal cancer development. The hrHPV E6 oncoprotein plays a major role in carcinogenesis. We aimed to evaluate the frequency of hrHPV DNA and E6 oncoprotein in the anuses of women with cervical carcinoma. We analyzed 117 women with cervical cancer and 103 controls for hrHPV and the E6 oncogene. Positive test results for a cervical carcinoma included 66.7 % with hrHPV-16 and 7.7 % with hrHPV-18. One case tested positive for both HPV variants (0.9 %). The samples from the anal canal were positive for HPV-16 in 59.8 % of the cases. Simultaneous presence of HPV in the cervix and anal canal was found in 53.8 % of the cases. Regarding expression of E6 RNA, positivity for HPV-16 in the anal canal was found in 21.2 % of the cases, positivity for HPV-16 in the cervix was found in 75.0 %, and positivity for HPV-18 in the cervix was found in 1.9 %. E6 expression in both the cervix and anal canal was found in 19.2 % of the cases. In the controls, 1 % tested positive for HPV-16 and 0 % for HPV-18. Anal samples from the controls showed a hrHPV frequency of 4.9 % (only HPV16). The presence of hrHPV in the anal canal of women with cervical cancer was detected at a high frequency. We also detected E6 RNA expression in the anal canal of women with cervical cancer, suggesting that these women are at risk for anal hrHPV infection.We acknowledge the Research Support Fund of the State of São Paulo (FAPESP), process number 2010/16795–4), for the financial support grants. FAPESP had no other type of influence on this manuscript beyond the financial suppor

A simple architecture with self-assembled monolayers to build immunosensors for detecting the pancreatic cancer biomarker CA19-9

Accepted ManuscriptThe challenge of the early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer in routine clinical practice requires low-cost means of detection, and this may be achieved with immunosensors based on electrical or electrochemical principles. In this paper, we report a potentially low-cost immunosensor built with interdigitated gold electrodes coated with a self-assembled monolayer and a layer of anti-CA19-9 antibodies, which is capable of detecting the pancreatic cancer biomarker CA19-9 using electrical impedance spectroscopy. Due to specific, irreversible adsorption of CA19-9 onto its corresponding antibody, according to data from polarization-modulated infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy (PM-IRRAS), the immunosensor is highly sensitive and selective. It could detect CA19-9 in commercial samples with a limit of detection of 0.68 U mL−1, in addition to distinguishing between blood serum samples from patients with different concentrations of CA19-9. Furthermore, by treating the capacitance data with information visualization methods, we were able to verify the selectivity and robustness of the immunosensor with regard to false positives, as the samples containing higher CA19-9 concentrations, including those from tumor cells, could be distinguished from those with possible interferents.CAPES, FAPESP (Grant 2013/14262-7 and 2012/15543-7), CNPq (150985/2017-7), nBioNet network and Barretos Cancer Hospital for financial supportinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Immunosensor for pancreatic cancer based on electrospun nanofibers coated with carbon nanotubes or gold nanoparticles

We report the fabrication of immunosensors based on nanostructured mats of electrospun nanofibers of polyamide 6 and poly(allylamine hydrochloride) coated either with multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) or gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), whose three-dimensional structure was suitable for the immobilization of anti-CA19-9 antibodies to detect the pancreatic cancer biomarker CA19-9. Using impedance spectroscopy, the sensing platform was able to detect CA19-9 with a detection limit of 1.84 and 1.57 U mL-1 for the nanostructured architectures containing MWCNTs and AuNPs, respectively. The high sensitivity achieved can be attributed to the irreversible adsorption between antibodies and antigens, as confirmed with polarization-modulated infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy. The adsorption mechanism was typical Langmuir-Freundlich processes. The high sensitivity and selectivity of the immunosensors were also explored in tests with blood serum from patients with distinct concentrations of CA19-9, for which the impedance spectra data were processed with a multidimensional projection technique. The robustness of the immunosensors in dealing with patient samples without suffering interference from analytes present in biological fluids is promising for a simple, effective diagnosis of pancreatic cancer at early stages.This work was supported by FAPESP (Grant 2013/14262-7), CNPq, and CAPES (Brazil). D.S.C. also thanks FAPESP (Grant 2014/16789-5), Embrapa−Rede Agronano, and MCTI SisNano for financial support.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Análise da expressão imuno-histoquímica de c-erbB-2 e EGFR em carcinoma epidermóide de esôfago Immunohistochemical expression of c-erbB-2 and EGFR in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

INTRODUÇÃO: O carcinoma epidermóide de esôfago (CEE) possui alta incidência em nosso país, com altas taxas de mortalidade. A família dos receptores do fator epitelial de crescimento (EGFR) é composta por quatro membros, e muitos estudos têm sido direcionados para a expressão de EGFR e c-erbB-2, com implicações terapêuticas. OBJETIVO: Investigar as expressões imuno-histoquímicas de EGFR e c-erbB-2 e correlacioná-las a aspectos clinicopatológicos em casos de CEE. MATERIAL E MÉTODOS: Para esse estudo, dados clinicopatológicos de 613 CEE foram revistos. A imunoistoquímica foi feita utilizando anticorpo policlonal para c-erbB-2 e monoclonal para EGFR em 597 e 585 casos, respectivamente. Os casos representados por peças cirúrgicas foram distribuídos em três blocos de parafina de tissue microarray (TMA), inseridos em duplicata; aqueles com biópsias foram analisados em corte convencional. Todos foram classificados de acordo com intensidade e padrão de marcação de membrana das células tumorais. RESULTADOS: As expressões de c-erbB-2 e EGFR foram observadas em 42,4% e 77,6% dos casos, respectivamente. Observou-se correlação estatisticamente significativa entre as expressões de c-erbB-2 (p = 0,04) e EGFR (p = 0,01) e grau histológico. Ambos os marcadores foram significativamente mais expressos em casos bem/moderadamente diferenciados do que nos pouco diferenciados/indiferenciados. Embora não tenha sido significativa, houve uma tendência de associação entre superexpressão de c-erbB-2 e sítio do tumor, em que casos positivos ocorreram com mais freqüência no terço médio do esôfago. Nenhuma correlação significativa foi verificada entre essas proteínas e sobrevida global. CONCLUSÃO: Os resultados podem sugerir um papel primordial para essas proteínas na diferenciação tumoral em CEE.<br>INTRODUCTION: Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is highly prevalent in Brazil, and responsible for high mortality index. The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) family has four members and much attention has been focused on the expressions of EGFR and c-erbB-2 with therapeutic implications. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to investigate immunohistochemical expressions of c-erbB-2 and EGFR in ESCC, and correlate them with clinicopathological data. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Medical records of 613 patients with ESCC were reviewed. Immunohistochemistry was carried out using polyclonal c-erbB-2 and monoclonal EGFR in 597 and 585 cases, respectively. Cases represented by surgical resections were performed in three tissue microarray (TMA) paraffin blocks spotted in duplicate; those with small biopsies without surgical resections were performed individually. All cases were scored according to intensity and pattern of membrane staining of tumor cells. RESULTS: The expressions of c-erbB-2 and EGFR were observed in 42.4% and 77.6% of the cases, respectively. A significant correlation was found between c-erbB-2 (p = 0.04) and EGFR (p = 0.01) expressions and histological grade. Both markers were significantly more expressed in well/moderate differentiated ESCC than in poorly differentiated ESCC. Although it was not significant, there was a tendency of association between c-erbB-2 overexpression and tumor location, in which positive cases occurred more frequently in the middle third of the esophagus. There was no correlation with overall survival. CONCLUSION: The results may suggest a role for these markers in tumoral differentiation in ESCC

Effect of adjuvant chemoradiotherapy on overall survival of gastric cancer patients submitted to D2 lymphadenectomy

Abstract Background Adjuvant chemoradiotherapy (CRT) is the standard treatment in Western countries for gastric cancer patients submitted to curative resection. However, the role of adjuvant CRT in gastric cancer treated with D2 lymphadenectomy has not been well defined. Conclusions In the present study, adjuvant CRT was associated with a lower risk of death over a 3-year period in gastric cancer patients treated with D2 lymphadenectomy