Uterine carcinosarcoma vs endometrial serous and clear cell carcinoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis of survival

Background: It is unclear whether uterine carcinosarcoma (UCS) is more aggressive than endometrial serous carcinoma (SC) and clear cell carcinoma (CCC). Objectives: To compare the prognosis of UCS to that of endometrial SC and CCC, through a systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods: Four electronic databases were searched from January 2000 to October 2020. All studies assessing hazard ratio (HR) for death in UCS vs SC and/or CCC. HRs for death with 95% confidence interval were extracted and pooled by using a random-effect model. A significant P-value <0.05 was adopted. Results: Six studies with 11 029 patients (4995 with UCS, 4634 with SC, 1346 with CCC and 54 with either SC or CCC) were included. UCS showed a significantly worse prognosis than SC/CCC both overall (HR = 1.51; P = 0.008) and at early stage (HR = 1.58; P < 0.001). Similar results were found for UCS vs SC (HR = 1.53; P < 0.001) and UCS vs CCC (HR = 1.60; P < 0.001). Conclusions: Compared to SC and CCC, UCS has a significantly worse prognosis, with a 1.5–1.6-fold increased risk of death. This might justify a more aggressive treatment for UCS compared to SC and CCC. Further studies are necessary to define the prognostic impact of different molecular subgroups

Endometrial Cancer Arising in Adenomyosis (EC-AIA): A Systematic Review

Endometrial cancer arising in adenomyosis (EC-AIA) is a rare uterine disease characterized by the malignant transformation of the ectopic endometrium within the adenomyotic foci. Clinicopathological and survival data are mostly limited to case reports and a few cohort studies. We aimed to assess the clinicopathological features and survival outcomes of women with EC-AIA through a systematic review of the literature. Six electronic databases were searched, from 2002 to 2022, for all peer-reviewed studies that reported EC-AIA cases. Thirty-seven EC-AIA patients from 27 case reports and four case series were included in our study. In our analysis, EC-AIA appeared as a rare disease that mainly occurs in menopausal women, shares symptoms with endometrial cancer, and is challenging to diagnose preoperatively. Differently from EC, it shows a higher prevalence of the non-endometrioid histotype, advanced FIGO stages, and p53-signature, which might be responsible for its worse prognosis. Future studies are necessary, to confirm our findings and further investigate this rare condition

The prognostic value of the myeloid-mediated immunosuppression marker Arginase-1 in classic Hodgkin Lymphoma

Neutrophilia is hallmark of classic Hodgkin Lymphoma (cHL), but its precise characterization remains elusive. We aimed at investigating the immunosuppressive role of high-density neutrophils in HL

po 320 gene panel mutation screening for a better molecular stratification of colorectal cancer patients

Introduction Colorectal carcinoma (CRC) is one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers worldwide. The metastatic disease contributes to the high mortality rate reported for such tumours. Significant benefit on overall survival was brought about the introduction of monoclonal antibodies anti-EGFR and anti-VEGF used in combination with chemotherapy in metastatic CRC (mCRC). While anti-VEGF treatment does not require biomarker-based selection criteria, the potential efficacy of anti-EGFR antibodies is neglected to patients with activating mutations in KRAS and NRAS (RAS) genes, whose molecular analysis became a clinical routine. The advent of Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) instruments, able to reach quick testing of multiple clinically-relevant hotspots, yet maintaining precision and low costs, allows the simultaneous determination of the mutation status of an expanding number of genes. Despite only few of these molecular biomarkers have gained clinical utility in the routine oncological practice, the acquisition of more complex cancer mutational patterns may provide more efficient tumour characterisation for prognostic and predictive purposes and highlight actionable targets. Material and methods We sequenced 639 mCRC samples by IT-PGM platform using a panel of hotspots and targeted regions of 22 genes (including RAS) commonly involved in CRCs. MSI analyses on 89 patients have been performed with a single fluorescent system comprising BAT25 and BAT26 mononucleotide repeats. Results and discussions We identified recurrent mutations (≥1%) in 12/22 genes, being KRAS, TP53 and PIK3CA the most frequently mutated ones. Statistical analysis, indicated that the mutation associations follow a non-random distribution. Categorization of the cases on the base of KRAS and p53 mutation status led us the definition of 8 Mutation Association Patterns (MAPs) characterised by specific mutation associations. Analysis of the clinicopathological data available for 89 out of 639 cases indicates interesting trends for the associations of MAPs with specific parameters, some of which reached statistical significance. Conclusion Application of NGS gene panel as a routine for the characterisation of RAS/BRAF status required for predictive purposes in CRC patients, may provide additional prognostic/predictive information, with no significant extra-costs

P-110 Hepatocellular carcinoma in elderly patients: Final results of the Italian cohort of GIDEON study

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The politicisation of evaluation: constructing and contesting EU policy performance

Although systematic policy evaluation has been conducted for decades and has been growing strongly within the European Union (EU) institutions and in the member states, it remains largely underexplored in political science literatures. Extant work in political science and public policy typically focuses on elements such as agenda setting, policy shaping, decision making, or implementation rather than evaluation. Although individual pieces of research on evaluation in the EU have started to emerge, most often regarding policy “effectiveness” (one criterion among many in evaluation), a more structured approach is currently missing. This special issue aims to address this gap in political science by focusing on four key focal points: evaluation institutions (including rules and cultures), evaluation actors and interests (including competencies, power, roles and tasks), evaluation design (including research methods and theories, and their impact on policy design and legislation), and finally, evaluation purpose and use (including the relationships between discourse and scientific evidence, political attitudes and strategic use). The special issue considers how each of these elements contributes to an evolving governance system in the EU, where evaluation is playing an increasingly important role in decision making

The Polarised Valence Quark Distribution from semi-inclusive DIS

The semi-inclusive difference asymmetry A^{h^{+}-h^{-}} for hadrons of opposite charge has been measured by the COMPASS experiment at CERN. The data were collected in the years 2002-2004 using a 160 GeV polarised muon beam scattered off a large polarised ^6LiD target and cover the range 0.006 < x < 0.7 and 1 < Q^2 < 100 (GeV/c)^2. In leading order QCD (LO) the asymmetry A_d^{h^{+}-h^{-}} measures the valence quark polarisation and provides an evaluation of the first moment of Delta u_v + Delta d_v which is found to be equal to 0.40 +- 0.07 (stat.) +- 0.05 (syst.) over the measured range of x at Q^2 = 10 (GeV/c)^2. When combined with the first moment of g_1^d previously measured on the same data, this result favours a non-symmetric polarisation of light quarks Delta u-bar = - Delta d-bar at a confidence level of two standard deviations, in contrast to the often assumed symmetric scenario Delta u-bar = Delta d-bar = Delta s-bar = Delta s.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, COMPASS, revised: details added, author list update

Decomposition analysis of LTREs may facilitate the design of short-term ecotoxicological tests

This study compared two methods, based on re-analyzed data from a partly published life table response experiment (LTRE), to help determine the optimal approach for designing ecotoxicological assessments. The 36-day LTRE data recorded the toxic effects of cadmium (Cd) and imidacloprid, alone and in combination, on the reproduction and survivorship of aphids (Acyrthosiphon pisum Harris). We used this data to construct an age-classified matrix model (six age classes, each 6 days long) to estimate aphid population growth rate (λ) under each treatment. For each treatment, an elasticity analysis and a demographic decomposition analysis were performed, and results were compared. Despite different results expected from the two toxicants, the elasticity values were very similar. The elasticity of λ with respect to survival was highest in the first age class, and that with respect to fertility was highest in the second age class. The demographic decomposition analysis examined how changes in life-history traits contributed to differences in λ between control and treated populations (Δλ). This indicated that the most important contributors to Δλ were the differences in survival (resulting from both demographic sensitivity and toxicity) in the first and the second age classes of aphids and differences in fertility in the third and the fourth age classes. Additionally, the toxicants acted differently. Cd reduced Δλ by impairing fertility at third age class and reducing survivorship from the second to the third age class. Imidacloprid mostly reduced survivorship at the first and second age classes. The elasticity and decomposition analyses showed different results, because these methods addressed different questions about the interaction of organism life history and sensitivity to toxicants. This study indicated that the LTRE may be useful for designing individual-level ecotoxicological experiments that account for both the effects of the toxicant and the demographic sensitivity of the organism