Descriptive epidemiology of 399 histologically confirmed newly diagnosed meningeal solitary fibrous tumours and haemangiopericytomas in France: 2006–2015

International audiencePurpose: Meningeal solitary fibrous tumour (SFT) and haemangiopericytoma (HPC) are uncommon tumours that have been merged into a single entity in the last 2021 WHO Classification of Tumors of the Central Nervous System. To describe the epidemiology of SFT/HPC operated in France and, to assess their incidence.Methods: We processed the French Brain Tumour Database (FBTDB) to conduct a nationwide population-based study of all histopathologically confirmed SFT/HPC between 2006 and 2015.Results: Our study included 399 SFT/HPC patients, operated in France between 2006 and 2015, in one of the 46 participating neurosurgical centres. The incidence reached 0.062, 95%CI[0.056-0.068] for 100,000 person-years. SFT accounted for 35.8% and, HPC for 64.2%. The ratio of SFT/HPC over meningioma operated during the same period was 0.013. SFT/HPC are about equally distributed in women and men (55.9% vs. 44.1%). For the whole population, mean age at surgery was 53.9 (SD ± 15.8) years. The incidence of SFT/HPC surgery increases with the age and, is maximal for the 50-55 years category. Benign SFT/HPC accounted for 65.16%, SFT/HPC of uncertain behaviour for 11.53% and malignant ones for 23.31%. The number of resection progresses as the histopathological behaviour became more aggressive. 6.7% of the patients with a benign SFT/HPC had a second surgery vs.16.6% in case of uncertain behaviour and, 28.4% for malignant SFT/HPC patients.Conclusion: Meningeal SFT and HPC are rare CNS mesenchymal tumours which both share common epidemiological characteristics, asserting their merging under a common entity. SFT/HPC incidence is less that one case for 1 billion per year and, for around 100 meningiomas-like tumours removed, one SFT/HPC may be diagnosed. SFT/HPC are equally distributed in women and men and, are mainly diagnosed around 50-55 years. The more aggressive the tumour, the higher the probability of recurrence

Descriptive epidemiology of 30,223 histopathologically confirmed meningiomas in France: 2006–2015

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Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition)

In 2008, we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, this topic has received increasing attention, and many scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Thus, it is important to formulate on a regular basis updated guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Despite numerous reviews, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to evaluate autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. Here, we present a set of guidelines for investigators to select and interpret methods to examine autophagy and related processes, and for reviewers to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of reports that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a dogmatic set of rules, because the appropriateness of any assay largely depends on the question being asked and the system being used. Moreover, no individual assay is perfect for every situation, calling for the use of multiple techniques to properly monitor autophagy in each experimental setting. Finally, several core components of the autophagy machinery have been implicated in distinct autophagic processes (canonical and noncanonical autophagy), implying that genetic approaches to block autophagy should rely on targeting two or more autophagy-related genes that ideally participate in distinct steps of the pathway. Along similar lines, because multiple proteins involved in autophagy also regulate other cellular pathways including apoptosis, not all of them can be used as a specific marker for bona fide autophagic responses. Here, we critically discuss current methods of assessing autophagy and the information they can, or cannot, provide. Our ultimate goal is to encourage intellectual and technical innovation in the field