Canadian Management of Serous Tubal Intraepithelial Carcinoma.

Objective: To assess the management and outcomes of patients diagnosed with an isolated serous tubal intraepithelial carcinoma lesion across Canada.

Methods: This retrospective study included consecutive patients with an isolated serous tubal intraepithelial carcinoma lesion diagnosed between 2006 and 2020 at 15 Canadian centers. Cases underwent multicenter panel pathology review.

Identification of targetable vulnerabilities of PLK1-overexpressing cancers by synthetic dosage lethality.

Chromosomal instability (CIN) drives tumor heterogeneity, complicating cancer therapy. Although Polo-like kinase 1 (PLK1) overexpression induces CIN, direct inhibition of PLK1 has shown limited clinical benefits. We therefore performed a genome-wide synthetic dosage lethality (SDL) screen to identify effective alternative targets and validated over 100 candidates using in vivo and in vitro secondary CRISPR screens.

The prognostic impact of PD-L1 and CD8 expression in anal cancer patients treated with chemoradiotherapy.

Background: Programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression has been shown to be prognostic in many cancer types and used in consideration of checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapy. However, there are very limited and conflicting data on the prognostic impact of PD-L1 in patients with anal squamous cell carcinoma (ASCC). The objectives of this study were to measure the expression of PD-L1 and CD8 in patients with ASCC treated with radical chemoradiotherapy (CRT) and to correlate tumor expression with progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS).

Treatment and outcomes in undifferentiated and dedifferentiated endometrial carcinoma.

Objective: Undifferentiated and dedifferentiated endometrial carcinoma is a rare type of uterine malignancy. This study assesses disease characteristics, treatment and survival outcomes in patients with undifferentiated and dedifferentiated endometrial carcinoma treated at BC Cancer.

Methods: All patients diagnosed with undifferentiated and dedifferentiated endometrial carcinoma between 2000 and 2019 at BC Cancer were reviewed centrally.

Malignancy is in the eye of the beholder: Pathologic diagnosis of challenging follicular neoplasms in the era of noninvasive follicular thyroid neoplasms with papillary-like nuclear features and immunohistochemical and molecular adjuncts.

Background: Classification of thyroid follicular neoplasms can be challenging for pathologists. Introduction of noninvasive follicular thyroid neoplasms with papillary-like nuclear features, the utilization of immunohistochemistry, and molecular analysis are all thought to be valuable diagnostic adjuncts. Our aim was to determine whether interobserver variability for follicular neoplasms has improved since the application of these adjuncts.

Another Whipple's triad? Pericardial, myocardial and valvular disease in an unusual case presentation from a Canadian perspective.

Background: Whipple's disease is a clinically relevant multi-system disorder that is often undiagnosed given its elusive nature. We present an atypical case of Whipple's disease involving pan-valvular endocarditis and constrictive pericarditis, requiring cardiac intervention. A literature review was also performed assessing the prevalence of atypical cases of Whipple's disease.

Expression of L1 retrotransposon open reading frame protein 1 in gynecologic cancers.

LINE-1 (L1) retrotransposons are mobile genetic elements capable of "copy-and-pasting" their own sequences into random genomic loci, and one of the proteins it uses to achieve mobility is LINE-1 open reading frame 1 protein (L1ORF1p). L1ORF1p expression is found across many epithelial cancers, including small cohorts of ovarian and endometrial cancers, and is highly expressed in cancers with mutant p53 expressions. Here we aimed to gain insights into L1ORF1p expression levels within specific histotypes of ovarian cancers: high-grade serous (n = 585), low-grade serous (n = 26), clear cell (n = 132), endometrioid (n = 148), and mucinous (n = 32) ovarian cancers, as well as endometrial cancers (n = 607) using tissue microarray (TMA's).

International Society of Gynecological Pathologists (ISGyP) Endometrial Cancer Project: Guidelines From the Special Techniques and Ancillary Studies Group.

The aim of this article is to propose guidelines and recommendations in problematic areas in pathologic reporting of endometrial carcinoma (EC) regarding special techniques and ancillary studies. An organizing committee designed a comprehensive survey with different questions related to pathologic features, diagnosis, and prognosis of EC that was sent to all members of the International Society of Gynecological Pathologists. The special techniques/ancillary studies group received 4 different questions to be addressed.

Adult lifetime alcohol consumption and invasive epithelial ovarian cancer risk in a population-based case-control study.

Objective: Meta-analyses report a null association between recent alcohol consumption and ovarian cancer risk. However, because few studies investigated different types of alcohol over adult ages, we investigated adult lifetime and type (beer, wine, spirits) of consumption and risk.

Methods: Consumption after age 20years was ascertained in 1144 invasive epithelial ovarian cancer cases and 2513 controls in a population-based case-control study (Alberta and British Columbia, Canada, 2001-2012).

Biobanking in the Twenty-First Century: Driving Population Metrics into Biobanking Quality.

Biospecimens are the essential substrates for human biomarker research. Across the globe, biobanks have developed the facilities and mechanisms to collect, process, store and distribute those substrates to researchers. However, despite some notable successes, less than one hundred of the tens of thousands of purported biomarkers have been independently validated.