(Press-News.org) DENVER, Colo. - If cancer patients are to receive optimal treatment, clinicians must have an accurate histologic classification of the tumor and know its genetic characteristics, said William D. Travis, M.D., attending thoracic pathologist, Department of Pathology, at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. Dr. Travis made his remarks today at the 16th World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC) hosted by the International Association of the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC).
Dr. Travis said the pathology and oncology professions made a big step towards this goal with the release of 2015 WHO Classification of Tumours of the Lung, Pleura, Thymus and Heart (Fourth edition), which is available at the conference and online at http://whobluebooks.iarc.fr/ or http://www.who.int/bookorders/.
"WHO Classifications represent a pathologic and genetic classification and grading of human tumors designed to be accepted and used worldwide. They provide standard criteria for pathology diagnosis, clinical practice, cancer registration, epidemiologic studies, clinical trials and cancer research," said Dr. Travis.
The 2015 WHO Classification of Lung Tumors captures a decade of remarkable advances in all lung cancer specialties including: pathology (histology, cytology, immunohistochemistry, molecular testing), clinical, epidemiology, radiology and genetics. The rapid expansion of molecular and immunohistochemical tools have provided a strong foundation for the classification and a rationale for reclassification of specific entities.
As a result, the role of the pathologist in lung cancer diagnosis and management has dramatically changed. Accurate pathologic diagnosis and tissue management has become more critical.
Historically, the main question asked of pathologists was to distinguish between small cell carcinoma and non-small cell carcinoma. This limited the role of pathologists in the management of lung cancer patients. However, with therapeutic and genetic advances (particularly regarding targeted therapies in patients with driver mutations in EGFR, ALK, ROS1, BRAF and RET) where treatment strategies are highly dependent on histology and genetics, pathologists now have to make more precise diagnoses and preserve tissue for molecular testing.
Since two thirds of lung cancer patients present in advanced stages, this is the most important group of tumors to address. Because these patients are not good surgical candidates, they are diagnosed based on small biopsies and cytology specimens. However, previous WHO classifications did not focus on diagnosis in small biopsies and cytology, so this is a completely new aspect to this WHO Classification and probably the most important. The urgent need for this is driven by therapeutic and genetic advances that make accurate histologic classification as well as genetic testing essential for patient management.
Critical aspects of this include:
New diagnostic criteria and terminology for lung cancer in small biopsies and cytology;
More accurate histologic subtyping;
Strategic management of small tissues;
Streamlining workflow for molecular testing;
Local multidisciplinary strategy for obtaining, processing and reporting these specimens.
"Most major advances in our understanding of the pathology of surgical resection specimens have occurred in lung adenocarcinoma. For resected lung adenocarcinomas, the introduction of comprehensive histologic subtyping and classification according to predominant subtype has provided a powerful tool that has led to multiple new discoveries," Dr. Travis said.
INFORMATION:
About the WCLC:
The WCLC is the world's largest meeting dedicated to lung cancer and other thoracic malignancies, attracting more than 7,000 researchers, physicians and specialists from more than 100 countries. The conference goal is to increase awareness and collaboration so that the latest developments in lung cancer can be understood and implemented throughout the world. Falling under the theme of "Fighting Lung Cancer," the conference will cover a wide range of disciplines and unveil several research studies and clinical trial results. For the first time, IASLC has invited survivors to attend the conference free of charge. For more information on the 2015 WCLC, visit: http://wclc2015.iaslc.org/.
About the IASLC:
The International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) is the only global organization specifically dedicated to the study of lung cancer. Founded in 1974, the association's membership includes nearly 4,000 lung cancer specialists in 80 countries. For more information, visit: https://www.iaslc.org/.
Organ donation after circulatory death (DCD), in which transplant organs are taken from donors after ay period of no blood circulation or oxygenation, is often considered inferior to donation after brain death, in which circulation and oxygenation are maintained until organs are removed for transplantation. Currently, the use of livers from DCD donors remains controversial, particularly with donors with advanced age.
A new study of DCD liver transplantations conducted at the Cleveland Clinic from 2005 to 2014 found no significant correlation between donor age and organ ...
New research reveals that seizures are frequent in childhood brain tumor survivors.
Among 298 children who were diagnosed with a brain tumor at least 2 years earlier and were followed for an average of 7.6 years, 24% of patients experienced seizures at the start of the study and 14% continued to experience them on an ongoing basis. Certain factors such as the type of tumor, its location, and the extent of surgery predispose patients to ongoing seizures.
"This information will allow clinicians to understand better who needs to stay on antiseizure medications and who ...
Researchers who analyzed data from the 2006-2007 wildfires in Australia found that exposure to wildfire smoke was linked to increased visits to hospital emergency departments for asthma.
The findings reveal the adverse health impacts due to wildfire particulate pollution in communities. These fine particulates are harmful because they are easily inhaled and remain present deep in the lungs.
"Given the increase in frequency and intensity of wildfires experienced worldwide in recent years, it's important to understand the impact of wildfire smoke exposure on acute health ...
Anemia is common, and in surgical patients can increase various risks associated with operations. While blood transfusion can be a lifesaver for patients in these situations, it may not be always be appropriate and can even increase risks.
A new review presents a 'patient blood management' program to help clinicians make decisions relating to anemia and blood transfusion. The approach relies on 3 pillars of care: detecting and treating anemia before surgery, reducing blood loss during surgery, and optimizing management of anemia after surgery. The program can be used ...
A new study that investigated the potential of certain psychological traits for predisposing heterosexuals to have negative attitudes towards homosexual people found that psychoticism--which is present in severe psychopathological conditions but may also contribute to less severe states of hostility and anger--and immature defense mechanisms may be important risk factors for homophobia, while depression and neurotic defense mechanisms appear to lower the risk of being homophobic.
"After discussing for centuries if homosexuality is to be considered a disease, for the first ...
Many parents and caregivers believe that multi-sensory stimulation during infancy promotes developmental growth and learning, but researchers who conducted eye movement experiments on preverbal infants show that this is not always true.
The team discovered that 8 to 10 month old infants could learn basic abstract rules, such as sequences, but only when the audio and visual stimuli were "congruently" or "consistently" paired. If a smiling face was paired with a crying sound, the infants were confused, and they did not learn the rule.
The findings indicate that having ...
A new decision rule will help emergency department physicians determine when to use radiography in young children with minor head injuries. The Canadian-developed rule is published in CMAJ.
Head injury is a common reason for children to visit emergency departments, resulting in more than 20 000 visits in Canada and 470 000 in the United States each year. Although termed "minor," these head injuries may have complications such as skull fractures and brain injury. Computed tomography (CT) scans, which are the most effective diagnostic tool, carry an increased risk of cancer, ...
Renewed medical interest in the use of psychedelic drugs for anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and addiction has resulted in small research studies that show some success with the controlled use of these drugs, according to an analysis published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).
Psychedelic drugs are substances that have a strong effect on one's "conscious experience," such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), psilocybin, found in "magic mushrooms," dimethyltryptamine (DMT), mescaline and methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA).
"The re-emerging ...
OAKLAND, Calif. -- The timely administration of a clot-dissolving treatment for emergency department patients with acute ischemic stroke nearly doubled following the introduction of new technology that enabled electronic order entry and offered care-decision support for physicians, according to a study published today in the Annals of Emergency Medicine.
The study was conducted during the staged implementation of computerized physician order entry when integrated into electronic health records across 16 Kaiser Permanente Northern California medical centers from 2007 to ...
(NEW YORK - September 8, 2015) Researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Princeton University have designed a new online tool that predicts the role of key proteins and genes in diseases of the human immune system. Called "ImmuNet," details of the publically available resource were published online today in the journal Immunity.
The tool uses information compiled from 38,088 public experiments to predict new immune pathway interactions, mechanisms, and disease-associated genes. With advances in inexpensive computing power, and stored data collections ...
