Soundscape phenology: The effect of environmental and climatic factors on birds and insects in a subtropical woodland.

Climate change and biodiversity loss are significant global environmental issues. However, to understand their impacts we need to know how fauna respond to environmental and climatic variation over time. In this study, remote sensing techniques (satellite imagery and passive acoustic recorders) were used to investigate the variation in biophony over different timescales, ranging from one day to one year, in a sub-tropical woodland in eastern Australia. The prominent sources of biophony were birds at dawn and during the day, nocturnal insects at dusk and during the night, and diurnal birds and insects (mainly cicadas) over the summer period of December, January, and February. While different environmental factors were found to be key drivers of phenological response in different faunal groups, temperature, humidity and the interactions between temperature, humidity, moon illumination and vegetation greenness were most important factors overall. Using observed temperatures relative to the historical mean for each day of the year, we evaluated the impact of higher-than-average temperatures on calling activity. We found that nocturnal insects call less frequently on days when the temperature was hotter than average in winter months (June, July, and August), and birds call less frequently in hot spring days (September, October, and November) meaning these groups can be susceptible to temperature increase as consequence, for example, of climate change. This study demonstrates how animal calling behaviour is affected by different environmental variables over different temporal scales. This study also demonstrates the utility of remote sensing techniques for assessing the impacts of climate change on biodiversity. It is highly recommended that monitoring schemes and impact assessments account for phenological changes and environmental variability, as these are complex and important processes shaping animal communities.

Histopathology of Prostate Cancer and its Precursors.

Starting in the mid-1970s, we formed a group of pathologists with a major interest in uropathology. Originally, it included 2 (R.M. and M.S.). In the years the followed, the group was enlarged to include 4 more people, 2 in the mid- and late-1980s (A.L.B. and L.C.) and another in the mid-1990s (R.Ma.); a sixth (A.C.) joined the group ∼5 years ago. Two have reached the retirement age (R.M. and M.S.), while others are in the process of joining the group to replace them. A fruitful collaboration spanned for ∼45 years. This contribution is based on a series of personal recollections of the successive changes in the interpretation of prostate cancer and its precursors, starting in the mid-1970s. Here we have retraced our involvement steps, sharing issues related to them with a junior uropathologist (A.C.).

Spectrum of incipient (or precursor) lesions in the mucosa of the seminal vesicles.

The seminal vesicle (SV) mucosa can show epithelial and stromal tumors. The epithelial tumors include both cystadenoma and carcinomas, adenocarcinoma being the most common. Squamous carcinoma may arise in the SV (1). Rarely mixed epithelial and stromal tumors (MESTs) can occur. Incipient lesions, i.e., primary precursor or preinvasive lesions giving rise to such tumors in the mucosa of the SVs, have been observed in anecdotal cases.

Retrospective Cohort Study of Caveolin-1 Expression as Prognostic Factor in Unresectable Locally Advanced or Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer Patients.

Caveolin-1 (Cav-1) plays a key role in various neoplastic diseases and is upregulated in different cancers, including pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Furthermore, Cav-1 is critical for the uptake of albumin as well as nab-paclitaxel in PDAC cells. Here, we investigated the prognostic impact of Cav-1 expression in a cohort of 39 metastatic PDAC patients treated with different first-line chemotherapy regimens. We also assessed the predictive value of Cav-1 in patients treated with gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel. Cav-1 expression was evaluated by immunohistochemistry staining in neoplastic and stromal cells, using metastatic sites or primary tumor tissue specimens. Higher levels of Cav-1 expression were associated with significantly worse overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS). No differences in OS were found between patients treated with gemcitabine + nab-paclitaxel vs. other chemotherapy options. Multivariate analysis for OS and PFS confirmed the independent prognostic role of Cav-1 expression. Our study evidenced a negative prognostic role of Cav-1 in patients affected by metastatic/locally advanced unresectable PDAC. Moreover, Cav-1 expression seems not to predict different response rates to different types of first-line treatment. Future prospective trials will be necessary to confirm the prognostic role of Cav-1 and explore Cav-1 specific inhibitors as a therapeutic option for advanced PDAC patients.

Prostate Cancer in 2021: Novelties in Prognostic and Therapeutic Biomarker Evaluation.

The 2021 novelties in prognostic and therapeutic tissue markers in patients with prostate cancer (PCa) can be subdivided into two major groups. The first group is related to prognostic markers based on morphological and immunohistochemical evaluations. The novelties in this group can then be subdivided into two subgroups, one involving morphologic evaluation only, i.e., PCa grading, and the other involving both morphologic and immunohistochemical evaluations, i.e., aggressive variant PCa (AVPCa). Grading concerns androgen-dependent PCa, while AVPCa represents a late phase in its natural history, when it becomes androgen-independent. The novelties of the other major group are related to molecular markers predicting significant disease or response to therapy. This group mainly includes novelties in the molecular evaluation of PCa in tissue material and liquid biopsies.

Circulating Tumor DNA Testing for Homology Recombination Repair Genes in Prostate Cancer: From the Lab to the Clinic.

Approximately 23% of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancers (mCRPC) harbor deleterious aberrations in DNA repair genes. Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors (PARPi) therapy has shown improvements in overall survival in patients with mCRPC who harbor somatic and/or germline alterations of homology recombination repair (HRR) genes. Peripheral blood samples are typically used for the germline mutation analysis test using the DNA extracted from peripheral blood leucocytes. Somatic alterations can be assessed by extracting DNA from a tumor tissue sample or using circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) extracted from a plasma sample. Each of these genetic tests has its own benefits and limitations. The main advantages compared to the tissue test are that liquid biopsy is a non-invasive and easily repeatable test with the value of better representing tumor heterogeneity than primary biopsy and of capturing changes and/or resistance mutations in the genetic tumor profile during disease progression. Furthermore, ctDNA can inform about mutation status and guide treatment options in patients with mCRPC. Clinical validation and test implementation into routine clinical practice are currently very limited. In this review, we discuss the state of the art of the ctDNA test in prostate cancer compared to blood and tissue testing. We also illustrate the ctDNA testing workflow, the available techniques for ctDNA extraction, sequencing, and analysis, describing advantages and limits of each techniques.

Cutaneous Rosai-Dorfman disease in a 42-year-old woman: a rare case report.

Rosai-Dorfman disease (RDD) is a histiocytic disorder that has only a skin implication in a very small percentage of cases. RDD is usually painless and accompanied by disseminated lymphadenopathy. We present a rare case of a female patient that complained of grouped skin papules localized on the left leg, associated with a palpable deep nodular lesion. Initially, this was clinically mistaken for a soft tissue sarcoma, but after a total body CT and surgical excision it was identified as a non-Langerhans cell benign histiocytosis known as RDD. The patient had neither recurrence nor systemic involvement after 7 months of follow-up.

Narrative review: update on immunotherapy and pathological features in patients with bladder cancer.

Over the last few years efficacy of immunotherapy using immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) has been investigated in patients with bladder cancer (BC) at all stages. The present article aims to assess new therapeutic options with emerging agents in BC patients, shedding light on ICI-based treatments encompassing all disease stages, from non-muscle invasive (NMIBC) to muscle-invasive (MIBC) BC, concluding with metastatic MIBC. In bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) unresponsive patients with carcinoma in situ, pembrolizumab has been recently approved. In the neoadjuvant setting, results from two clinical trials seem to identify pathological and genomic features of highly responsive tumors. Squamous cells and lymphoepithelioma/like histotypes, programmed cell-death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression and high levels of activate T cells have been associated with higher response rate. In the metastatic setting, only 30% of patient may respond to ICI. A panel of biomarkers for patient selection is an actual need since the correlation between response and PD-L1 expression seem inconsistent across clinical trials, with some exceptions. Molecular characterization of BC, tumor mutation burden and immune-gene expression profiling might introduce new molecular biomarkers, hopefully transferable into the clinical-pathological practice.

Towards a new WHO classification of renal cell tumor: what the clinician needs to know-a narrative review.

In 1952, renal cell carcinomas had been divided into 2 categories-clear cell or granular cell-depending upon their cytoplasmic staining characteristics. In the following years, the inventory of renal epithelial tumors has expanded by the addition of tumors named by their architectural pattern (i.e., papillary RCC, tubulocystic RCC), anatomic location (i.e., collecting duct carcinoma, renal medullary carcinoma), associated diseases (i.e., acquired cystic disease-associated RCCs). With the extensive application of molecular diagnostic techniques, it becomes possible to detect genetic distinctions between various types of renal neoplasm and discover new entities, otherwise misdiagnosed or diagnosed as unclassified RCC. Some tumors such as ALK rearrangement-associated RCC, MiT family translocation renal carcinomas, SDH-deficient renal cancer or FH-deficient RCC, are defined by their molecular characteristics. The most recent World Health Organization (WHO) classification of renal neoplasms account for more than 50 entities and provisional entities. New entities might be included in the upcoming WHO classification. The aim of this review is to summarise and discuss the newly acquired data and evidence on the clinical, pathological, molecular features and on the prognosis of new RCC entities, which will hopefully increase the awareness and the acceptance of these entities among clinicians and improve prognostication for individual patients.

Narrative review of prostate cancer grading systems: will the Gleason scores be replaced by the Grade Groups?

The Gleason grading system, proposed by Dr. Donald F. Gleason in 1966, is one of the most important prognostic factors in men with prostate cancer (PCa). At consensus conferences held in 2005 and 2014, organized by the International Society of Urological Pathology (ISUP), the system was modified to reflect the current diagnostic and therapeutic approaches. In particular, in the 2014 Conference, it was recognized that there were weaknesses with the original and the 2005 ISUP modified Gleason systems. Based on the results of a research conducted by Prof. JI Epstein and his group, a new grading system was proposed by the ISUP in order to address some of such deficiencies: i.e., the five distinct Grade Groups (GGs). Since 2014, results of studies have been published by different groups and societies, including the Genitourinary Pathology Society (GUPS), giving additional support to the prognostic role of the architectural Gleason patterns and, in particular, of the GGs. A revised GG system, taking into account the percentage of Gleason pattern (GP) 4, cribriform and intraductal carcinoma, tertiary GP 5, and reactive stroma grade, has shown to have some advantages, however not ready for adoption in the current practice. The aim of this contribution was to review the major updates and recommendations regarding the GPs and GSs, as well as the GGs, trying to give an answer to the following questions: "How has the grade group system been used in the routine?" and "will the Gleason scoring system be replace by the grade groups?" We also discussed the potential implementation in the future of molecular pathology and artificial intelligence in grading to further define risk groups in patients with PCa.