The purpose of this study was to clarify the prognostic significance of lymphocyte infiltration in soft tissue sarcomas (STS). Prognostic markers in potentially curable STS should guide therapy after surgical resection. The immune status at the time of resection may be important, but the prognostic significance of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes is controversial as the immune system has conflicting roles during cancer development. Tissue microarrays from 249 patients with STS were constructed from duplicate cores of viable and representative neoplastic tumor areas. Immunohistochemistry was used to evaluate the CD3+, CD4+, CD8+, CD20+ and CD45+ lymphocytes in tumors. In univariate analyses, increased numbers of CD4+ (P = 0.008) and CD20+ (P = 0.006) lymphocytes in tumor correlated significantly with an improved disease-specific survival (DSS) in patients with wide resection margins (n = 108). In patients with non-wide resection margins (n = 141) increased numbers of CD3+ (P = 0.028) lymphocytes in tumor correlated significantly with shorter DSS. In multivariate analyses, a high number of CD20+ lymphocytes (HR = 5.5, CI 95% = 1.6–18.6, P = 0.006) in the tumor was an independent positive prognostic factor for DSS in patients with wide resections margins. High density of CD20+ lymphocytes in STS with wide resection margins is an independent positive prognostic indicator for these patients. Further research is needed to define if CD20+ cells can modify tumors in a way that reduces disease progression and metastatic potential.

In recent years, microRNAs (miRNAs) have been found to play an essential role in tumor development. In lung tumorigenesis, targets and pathways of miRNAs are being revealed, and further translational research in this field is warranted. MiR-155 is one of the miRNAs most consistently involved in various neoplastic diseases. We aimed to investigate the prognostic impact of the multifunctional miR-155 in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients.

Cervical cancer can be prevented by early detection and treatment for precancerous lesions. Since 1995, there has been a national cervical cancer screening program in Norway, where women aged 25–69 years are recommended to take Pap smears every three years. There are 17 cytology laboratories covering a population of 5 million people. The detection rate of cervical abnormalities varies from laboratory to laboratory. We wanted to investigate the accuracy of cytology diagnoses by four different pathologists at three different hospitals in Norway. One hundred Pap smears (20 Normal, 20 ASC-US, 20 LSIL, 20 ASC-H and 20 HSIL) screened at UNN in 2015 were evaluated by four pathologists at three hospitals in Norway. All patients were followed up through December 2016. Histologically confirmed high-grade dysplasia (CIN2+) was considered as study endpoint. The number of Pap smears evaluated as abnormal (ASC-US+) by the four pathologists varied from 61 to 85. The number of high-grade cytology (ASC-H+) varied from 26 to 50. There was moderate agreement (weighted kappa 0.45–0.58) between the observers. There were 32 women with high-grade histology (CIN2+) in the follow-up, including 19 CIN2, 12 CIN3 and one squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). Using high-grade cytology (ASC-H+) as cut-off, the sensitivity for CIN2+ varied from 68.8% to 93.8% (mean 77.4%) and specificity from 70.6% to 95.6% (mean 81.3%). The pathologist with the highest sensitivity for CIN2+ had the highest false positive rate and the lowest specificity (p<0.05). The accuracy for CIN2+ varied from 74.1% to 83.8% (mean 79.4%). The Pap smear from the woman with cervical cancer was diagnosed as high-grade (ASC-H+) by one of the four pathologists. Cervical cancer screening based on cytology has limited accuracy. The study revealed a moderate agreement between the observers, along with a trade-off between sensitivity and specificity. This might indicate that hospitals with high detection rates of cervical cytology have higher sensitivity for CIN2+ but lower specificity.

BACKGROUND: Angiogenesis is pivotal in tumor development. Vascular endothelial growth factor‐A (VEGF‐A) is considered one of the most important angiogenic factors, but lately several microRNAs (miRs) have been associated with vascular development. miR‐126 has been related to tumor angiogenesis and in the regulation of VEGF‐A. The authors aimed to investigate the prognostic impact of miR‐126 and its co‐expression with VEGF‐A in nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients.METHODS: Tumor tissue samples from 335 resected stage I to IIIA NSCLC patients were obtained and tissue microarrays (TMAs) were constructed with 4 cores from each tumor specimen. VEGF‐A expression was evaluated by immunohistochemistry, and in situ hybridization was used to evaluate the expression of miR‐126.RESULTS: In the total material, miR‐126 was a significant negative prognostic factor in both univariate (P = .005) and multivariate analyses (hazard ratio [HR] 1.8, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.2‐2.8, P = .01). Stratified by histology, miR‐126 was only significant in squamous cell carcinomas (univariate: P < .001; multivariate: HR 3.1, CI 95% 1.7‐5.6, P<.001). Stratified by lymph node status, miR‐126 was significant only in the lymph node‐positive subgroup (univariate: P<.001; multivariate: HR 4.1, CI 95% 2.0‐8.4, P < .001). High miR‐126 expression correlated significantly with high VEGF‐A expression (P = .037). The co‐expression of miR‐126 and VEGF‐A had a significant prognostic impact (P = .002), with 5‐year survival rates of 68%, 51%, and 42% for low/low (n = 150), mixed combinations (n = 129), and high/high (n = 35) expression, respectively.CONCLUSIONS: miR‐126 is a strong and independent negative prognostic factor in NSCLC, and its prognostic impact appears related primarily to histology and nodal status. Cancer 2011. © 2011 American Cancer Society.