Pathology skills lab: use of macroscopic tumor models in pathology teaching.

BACKGROUND: The shortage of pathologists in Germany, coupled with an aging workforce, requires innovative approaches to attract medical students to the field. Medical education must address different learning styles to ensure that all students are successful. METHODS: The pilot project "Practical Pathology" aims to enhance students' understanding of pathology by providing hands-on experience in macroscopic gross analysis through the use of tumor dummies built from scratch. RESULTS: An evaluation survey, completed by 63 participating students provided positive feedback on the course methodology, its relevance to understanding the pathology workflow, and its improvement over traditional teaching methods. The majority of students recognized the importance of hands-on training in medical education. Students with previous work experience rated the impact of the course on knowledge acquisition even more positively. CONCLUSION: The course improved students' understanding of pathological processes and potential sources of clinical-pathological misunderstanding. An increase in motivation for a potential career in the field of pathology was observed in a minority of students, although this exceeded the percentage of pathologists in the total medical workforce.

Critical role of pathology and laboratory medicine in the conversation surrounding access to healthcare.

Pathology and laboratory medicine are a key component of a patient's healthcare. From academic care centres, community hospitals, to clinics across the country, pathology data are a crucial component of patient care. But for much of the modern era, pathology and laboratory medicine have been absent from health policy conversations. Though select members in the field have advocated for an enhanced presence of these specialists in policy conversations, little work has been done to thoroughly evaluate the moral and ethical obligations of the pathologist and the role they play in healthcare justice and access to care. In order to make any substantive improvements in access to care, pathology and laboratory medicine must have a seat at the table. Specifically, pathologists and laboratorians can assist in bringing about change through improving clinician test choice, continuing laboratory improvement programmes, promoting just advanced diagnostic distribution, triage testing and be good stewards of healthcare dollars, and recruiting a more robust laboratory workforce. In order to get to that point, much work has to be done in pathology education and the laboratory personnel training pipeline but there also needs to be adjustments at the system level to better involve this invaluable group of specialists in these policy conversations.

Knowledge, Practice, and Skills in Cytology-Based Cervical Cancer Screening: Impact Assessment of Training Workshop for the Pathologists.

There is a paucity of trained cytopathologists in low-resource settings for effective cervical cancer screening. There has been no documented report of the impact of a dedicated training program in cervical cytology on pathologists' knowledge and skill in this field. The present study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of the regularly conducted training workshops on the attending pathologists' knowledge, practice, and skills in cervicovaginal smear reporting. Our institute, a premier cancer research institute, has conducted 10 cytology-based cervical cancer screening workshops for pathologists with pre- and post-training evaluation using sets of digital images and a questionnaire (knowledge score). Additionally, feedback on diagnostic skills was taken at a 1-month and 6-month interval post-workshop using a separate set of digital images of cervical lesions. A Google form-based questionnaire was designed to seek the participants' feedback on the perceived improvement in knowledge and skills. All the data thus collected were analyzed to assess the efficacy of these workshops in imparting the desired knowledge and skills. A total of 350 participants were enrolled in these workshops. The average knowledge score improved from 10.56 (± 3.23) in the pre-training questionnaire to 21.17 (± 2.41) in the post-training evaluation, making a 100.5% increase (P < 0.001). Similarly, the diagnostic accuracy on digital images was enhanced from 8.6 (± 2.12) to 19.5 (± 4.28) immediately post-training and was maintained at 17.6 (± 3.87) at 1-month and 16.4 (± 4.26) at a 6-month interval (P < 0.001). The majority of the participants reported fair to a marked improvement in their knowledge, practice, and confidence in reporting cervical cytology in the response to form-based questionnaire. One-fifth of the responders also acknowledged the assistance of the knowledge gained during the workshop in refinement or initiation of cervical cytology at their set-up. Our experience of conducting these regular workshops demonstrates the utility of such training programs in human resource development in the field of cervical cytology for enhancement of cervical cancer screening in resource-constrained settings.

Next-Generation Scholarship: Rebranding Hematopathology Using Twitter: The MD Anderson Experience.

Hematopathologists are witnessing very exciting times, as a new era of unsurpassed technological advances is unfolding exponentially, enhancing our understanding of diseases at the genomic and molecular levels. In the evolving field of precision medicine, our contributions as hematopathologists to medical practice are of paramount importance. Social media platforms such as Twitter have helped facilitate and enrich our professional  interactions and collaborations with others in our field and in other medical disciplines leading to a more holistic approach to patient care. These platforms also have created a novel means for instantaneous dissemination of new findings and recent publications, and are proving to be increasingly useful tools that can be harnessed to expand our knowledge and amplify our presence in the medical community. In this Editorial, we share our experience as hematopathologists with Twitter, and how we leveraged this platform to boost scholarly activities within and beyond our subspecialty, and as a powerful medium for worldwide dissemination of educational material and to promote our remote teaching activities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Online Training and Self-assessment in the Histopathologic Classification of Endocervical Adenocarcinoma and Diagnosis of Pattern of Invasion: Evaluation of Participant Performance.

Histopathologic classification of endocervical adenocarcinomas (EAC) has recently changed, with the new system based on human papillomavirus (HPV)-related morphologic features being incorporated into the 5th edition of the WHO Blue Book (Classification of Tumours of the Female Genital Tract). There has also been the introduction of a pattern-based classification system to assess invasion in HPV-associated (HPVA) endocervical adenocarcinomas that stratifies tumors into 3 groups with different prognoses. To facilitate the introduction of these changes into routine clinical practice, websites with training sets and test sets of scanned whole slide images were designed to improve diagnostic performance in histotype classification of endocervical adenocarcinoma based on the International Endocervical Adenocarcinoma Criteria and Classification (IECC) and assessment of Silva pattern of invasion in HPVA endocervical adenocarcinomas. We report on the diagnostic results of those who have participated thus far in these educational websites. Our goal was to identify areas where diagnostic performance was suboptimal and future educational efforts could be directed. There was very good ability to distinguish HPVA from HPV-independent adenocarcinomas within the WHO/IECC classification, with some challenges in the diagnosis of HPV-independent subtypes, especially mesonephric carcinoma. Diagnosis of HPVA subtypes was not consistent. For the Silva classification, the main challenge was related to distinction between pattern A and pattern B, with a tendency for participants to overdiagnose pattern B invasion. These observations can serve as the basis for more targeted efforts to improve diagnostic performance.

Polyclonal PAX8 expression in carcinomas of the biliary tract - Frequent non-specific staining represents a potential diagnostic pitfall.

Paired box protein 8 (PAX8) is a transcription factor that is considered a relatively specific marker of carcinomas of the thyroid, kidney, and Müllerian/Wolffian duct derivatives. Unexpected PAX8 immunoreactivity has occasionally been reported in other tumors. The frequency of PAX8 expression in carcinomas of the biliary tract is not well studied. We evaluated the immunohistochemical expression of PAX8 in 73 cases of biliary tract carcinoma. We found that 28 of 73 (38%) biliary tract carcinomas had variable immunoreactivity for PAX8, assessed by a widely used polyclonal antibody (ProteinTech Group, Chicago, IL). This included 3 (4%) of cases with strong diffuse, and 14 (19%) of cases with strong focal staining. Strong PAX8 expression was more frequent in distal bile duct carcinomas than other biliary sites (p = 0.015), and showed a weak association with advanced T stage (T3-T4 versus T1-T2; p = 0.09). No correlation was observed between PAX8 positivity and age at diagnosis, gender, or lymph node metastasis. The 28 polyclonal PAX8-positive cases were largely negative for monoclonal PAX8 and PAX6 immunostains, with only rare tumor cells with weak immunoreactivity being present in a subset of cases. We show that a substantial fraction of biliary tract carcinomas exhibit immunoreactivity with a widely used polyclonal PAX8 antibody. Pathologists should be aware of this potential pitfall during the diagnostic workup of hepatobiliary lesions to avoid misdiagnosis as a metastasis from a PAX8-positive tumor.

The effect of an e-learning module on grading variation of (pre)malignant breast lesions.

Histologic grade is a biomarker that is widely used to guide treatment of invasive breast cancer (IBC) and ductal carcinoma in situ of the breast (DCIS). Yet, currently, substantial grading variation between laboratories and pathologists exists in daily pathology practice. This study was conducted to evaluate whether an e-learning may be a feasible tool to decrease grading variation of (pre)malignant breast lesions. An e-learning module, representing the key-concepts of grading (pre)malignant breast lesions through gold standard digital images, was designed. Pathologists and residents could take part in either or both the separate modules on DCIS and IBC. Variation in grading of a digital set of lesions before and after the e-learning was compared in a fully-crossed study-design. Multiple outcome measures were assessed: inter-rater reliability (IRR) by Light's kappa, the number of images graded unanimously, the number of images with both extreme scores (i.e., grade I and grade III), and the average number of discrepancies from expert-consensus. Participants were included as they completed both the pre- and post-e-learning set (DCIS-module: n = 36, IBC-module: n = 21). For DCIS, all outcome measures improved after e-learning, with the IRR improving from fair (kappa: 0.532) to good (kappa: 0.657). For IBC, all outcome measures for the subcategories tubular differentiation and mitosis improved, with >90% of participants agreeing on almost 90% of the images after the e-learning. In contrast, the IRR for the subcategory of nuclear pleomorphism remained fair (kappa: 0.523 vs. kappa: 0.571). This study shows that an e-learning module, in which pathologists and residents are trained in histologic grading of DCIS and IBC, is a feasible and promising tool to decrease grading variation of (pre)malignant breast lesions. This is highly relevant given the important role of histologic grading in clinical decision making of (pre)malignant breast lesions.

[Hereditary gastric cancer: Challenges for the pathologist in 2020]. / Les cancers gastriques héréditaires: rôle du pathologiste en 2020.

Gastric cancer is the third most common cancer worldwide. The majority of gastric cancers are sporadic but familial clustering is seen in more than 10% of cases. This manuscript is divided into two parts. The first part is dedicated to the non-syndromic hereditary gastric cancer, particularly the hereditary diffuse gastric cancer (HDGC) and other gastric polyposes including the recently described GAPPS (Gastric adenocarcinoma and proximal polyposis of the stomach). The second part concerns the syndromic gastric cancer, namely the HNPCC syndrome (Hereditary Non Polyposis Colorectal Cancer) occurring as part of a genetic predisposition syndrome to cancer. Recent advances in oncogenetics and next generation sequencing technology have enabled the identification of new entities. This enhancement in knowledge regarding inherited syndromes predisposing to gastric cancer has consequently improved the management of patients and their families. In this context, pathologists play a major role in identifying particular morphologic entities prompting genetic investigation. The aim of this manuscript is to provide an update on the current knowledge about hereditary gastric cancer.

[Clinical Cancer Genetics: A guide for the pathologist]. / Les trois temps de la prise en charge oncogénétique : la consultation, l'analyse en laboratoire et le suivi personnalisé.

It is paramount to identify patients whose cancer is associated with genetic susceptibility to the disease, since their long-term management depends on it. Anatomical and molecular pathologists play a key role in the process. Indeed, their diagnosis supports or even sometimes warrants germline genetic testing. For example, a colorectal cancer with mismatch repair protein expression loss suggests Lynch syndrome, while a rare type of renal cell carcinoma with fumarate hydrate expression loss is highly evocative of hereditary leiomyomatosis and renal cell carcinoma syndrome. Similarly, the presence of the T790M EGFR variant before treatment in a non-small-cell lung carcinoma warrants further testing as the variant is likely of germline origin. Patients with suspected genetic susceptibility to cancer are referred to the nearest clinical cancer genetics clinic. The cancer geneticist, assisted by a genetic counsellor, then collects detailed personal and familial information, sometimes feeds them into bioinformatics tools or clinico-pathological scores, decides whether germline genetic analysis is justified, determines which genes should be analysed and prescribes testing. Germline testing is carried out on a blood sample by expert laboratories using next generation sequencing on panels of cancer susceptibility genes. The cancer geneticists then return the result to the patient. When a pathogenic variant is identified, the patient's management is modified, with recommendations ranging from intensified surveillance to risk-reducing surgery. Treatment is sometimes adapted to the pathogenic variant. In addition, relatives can undergo genetic testing, should they wish to know whether they carry the familial variant. In the near future, we expect clinical cancer genetics to move towards strengthened partnerships with molecular pathologists and medical oncologists. Somatic genetic analyses are now routine, at least in metastatic cancer, and a proportion of the tumoral variants identified are actually of germline origin. As for the oncologists, the development of mainstreaming programs where they are allowed to prescribe germline testing under the supervision of a cancer genetics team is unavoidable.

Improving pathology and laboratory medicine in low-income and middle-income countries: roadmap to solutions.

Insufficient awareness of the centrality of pathology and laboratory medicine (PALM) to a functioning health-care system at policy and governmental level, with the resultant inadequate investment, has meant that efforts to enhance PALM in low-income and middle-income countries have been local, fragmented, and mostly unsustainable. Responding to the four major barriers in PALM service delivery that were identified in the first paper of this Series (workforce, infrastructure, education and training, and quality assurance), this second paper identifies potential solutions that can be applied in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). Increasing and retaining a quality PALM workforce requires access to mentorship and continuing professional development, task sharing, and the development of short-term visitor programmes. Opportunities to enhance the training of pathologists and allied PALM personnel by increasing and improving education provision must be explored and implemented. PALM infrastructure must be strengthened by addressing supply chain barriers, and ensuring laboratory information systems are in place. New technologies, including telepathology and point-of-care testing, can have a substantial role in PALM service delivery, if used appropriately. We emphasise the crucial importance of maintaining PALM quality and posit that all laboratories in LMICs should participate in quality assurance and accreditation programmes. A potential role for public-private partnerships in filling PALM services gaps should also be investigated. Finally, to deliver these solutions and ensure equitable access to essential services in LMICs, we propose a PALM package focused on these countries, integrated within a nationally tiered laboratory system, as part of an overarching national laboratory strategic plan.

Urologic Diseases Germane to the Medical Renal Biopsy: Review of a Large Diagnostic Experience in the Context of the Renal Architecture and Its Environs.

The kidney is one of the most complicated organs in development and is susceptible to more types of diseases than other organs. The disease spectrum includes developmental and cystic diseases, involvement by systemic diseases, iatrogenic complications, ascending infections and urinary tract obstruction, and neoplastic diseases. The diagnosis of kidney disease is unique involving 2 subspecialties, urologic pathology and renal pathology. Both renal and urologic pathologists employ the renal biopsy as a diagnostic modality. However, urologic pathologists commonly have a generous specimen in the form of a nephrectomy or partial nephrectomy while a renal pathologist requires ancillary modalities of immunofluorescence and electron microscopy. The 2 subspecialties differ in the disease spectrum they diagnose. This separation is not absolute as diseases of one subspecialty not infrequently appear in the diagnostic materials of the other. The presence of medical renal diseases in a nephrectomy specimen is well described and recommendations for reporting these findings have been formalized. However, urologic diseases appearing in a medical renal biopsy have received less attention. This review attempts to fill that gap by first reviewing the perirenal anatomy to illustrate why inadvertent biopsy of adjacent organs occurs and determine its incidence in renal biopsies followed by a discussion of gross anatomic features relevant to the microscopic domain of the medical renal biopsy. Unsuspected neoplasms and renal cysts and cystic kidney diseases will then be discussed as they create a diagnostic challenge for the renal pathologist who often has limited training and experience in these diseases.

Diagnosis and predictors of sessile serrated adenoma after educational training in a large, community-based, integrated healthcare setting.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Sessile serrated adenomas (SSAs) are precursors of 15% to 30% of colorectal cancers but are frequently underdiagnosed. We sought to measure the SSA detection rate (SDR) and predictors of SSA detection after educational training for community gastroenterologists and pathologists. METHODS: Colonoscopy and pathology data (2010-2014) from 3 medical centers at Kaiser Permanente Northern California were accessed electronically. Gastroenterologists and pathologists attended a training session on SSA diagnosis in 2012. Mean SDRs and patient-level predictors of SSA detection post-training (2013-2014) were investigated. RESULTS: Mean SDRs increased from .6% in 2010-2012 to 3.7% in 2013-2014. The increase in the detection of proximal SSAs was accompanied by a decrease in the detection of proximal hyperplastic polyps (HPs). Among 34,161 colonoscopies performed in 2013 to 2014, SDRs for screening, fecal immunochemical test positivity, surveillance, and diagnostic indication were 4.2%, 4.5%, 4.9%, and 3.0%, respectively. SSA detection was lower among Asians (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], .46; 95% confidence interval [CI], .31-.69) and Hispanics (aOR, .59; 95% CI, .36-.95) compared with non-Hispanic whites and higher among patients with synchronous conventional adenoma (aOR, 1.46; 95% CI, 1.15-1.86), HP (aOR, 1.74; 95% CI, 1.30-2.34), and current smokers (aOR, 1.78; 95% CI, 1.17-2.72). SDRs varied widely among experienced gastroenterologists, even after training (1.1%-8.1%). There was a moderately strong correlation between adenoma detection rate (ADR) and SDR for any SSA (r = .64, P = .0003) and for right-sided SSAs (r = .71, P < .0001). CONCLUSIONS: Educational training significantly increased the detection of SSA, but a wide variation in SDR remained across gastroenterologists. SSA detection was inversely associated with Asian and Hispanic race/ethnicity and positively associated with the presence of conventional adenoma, HP, and current smoking. There was a moderately strong correlation between ADR and SDR.

Practice of Teledermatopathology: A Systematic Review.

INTRODUCTION: Teledermatopathology has the potential to revolutionize the practice of diagnosing skin diseases. This review provides an overview of the advantages, limitations, and future directions of teledermatopathology. METHODS: MEDLINE was searched via PubMed and Google Scholar databases for relevant articles published from 2012 to the present. Additional articles were also identified by hand-searching. RESULTS: A total of 2675 citations were identified in the initial search. Two thousand five hundred seventy-three were excluded based on duplicates and review of titles and abstracts. Eighty studies failed to meet the inclusion criteria, resulting in a total of 22 articles for analysis. Nine additional articles were hand-searched. CONCLUSIONS: Recent studies report that telepathology increases access to specialists, reduces interpretive errors and health care expenditures, improves the efficiency of workflow, and optimizes patient outcomes. It also facilitates international collaboration by widening global access to dermatopathology services and providing educational resources in underserved areas. However, the quality and regulations of digital slide imaging in teledermatopathology need to be improved.

Variation among pathologists' treatment suggestions for melanocytic lesions: A survey of pathologists.

BACKGROUND: The extent of variability in treatment suggestions for melanocytic lesions made by pathologists is unknown. OBJECTIVE: We investigated how often pathologists rendered suggestions, reasons for providing suggestions, and concordance with national guidelines. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional survey of pathologists. Data included physician characteristics, experience, and treatment recommendation practices. RESULTS: Of 301 pathologists, 207 (69%) from 10 states (California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Jersey, New Mexico, Utah, and Washington) enrolled. In all, 15% and 7% reported never and always including suggestions, respectively. Reasons for offering suggestions included improved care (79%), clarification (68%), and legal liability (39%). Reasons for not offering suggestions included referring physician preference (48%), lack of clinical information (44%), and expertise (29%). Training and caseload were associated with offering suggestions (P < .05). Physician suggestions were most consistent for mild/moderate dysplastic nevi and melanoma. For melanoma in situ, 18 (9%) and 32 (15%) pathologists made suggestions that undertreated or overtreated lesions based on National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines, respectively. For invasive melanoma, 14 (7%) pathologists made treatment suggestions that undertreated lesions based on NCCN guidelines. LIMITATIONS: Treatment suggestions were self-reported. CONCLUSIONS: Pathologists made recommendations ranging in consistency. These findings may inform efforts to reduce treatment variability and optimize patterns of care delivery for patients.

Science, Medicine, and Cytology: an educational program of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee of the American Society of Cytopathology.

INTRODUCTION: As our field of pathology continues to grow, our trainee numbers are on the decline. To combat this trend, the ASC Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee established the Science, Medicine, and Cytology SumMer Certificate program to improve exposure to pathology/cytopathology with a focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Herein, we report our findings of the first 2 years of the program. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An online course was developed targeting students who are underrepresented in medicine at the high school and college level. It consisted of several didactic sessions, presenting the common procedures involving cytopathologists and cytologists. Interviews with cytopathologists were also included. Participants were surveyed for demographic information and provided course evaluations. RESULTS: In the first year of the program (2021), 34 participants completed the program, which increased to 103 in 2022. In both years there was a diversity in participant demographic backgrounds; however, only a minority of participants self-identified as being underrepresented in medicine. A vast majority (>85%) of participants in both years were high school or college students. In 2021, 100% of participants stated that the program format was effective and 94% thought the content was appropriate for their level of education; in 2022 the results were similar. In 2021, 66% considered health care as a potential career; this value increased in 2022 to 83%. In 2021 and 2022, 31% and 38%, respectively, considered cytology as a career. CONCLUSIONS: Evaluations were excellent, generating interest in cytopathology. Barriers in reaching underrepresented minorities exist and additional work is needed. Expansion to a wider audience may increase outreach.

Cytopathology fellowship and practice: Are our trainees and cytopathologists diverse?

Over the last several years, there has been increased focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion within all areas of pathology and laboratory medicine. Many of the specialty societies within pathology have taken up the mantle of diversity. While there is little research into the diversity of cytopathologists in practice, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) has been collecting diversity data on pathology and laboratory medicine trainees since 2011. This data are an opportunity to explore how diverse our trainees in cytopathology are, and by extrapolation, allows us to develop some ideas as to how diverse attending level cytopathologists are. The author will also share personal observations from her own training and career regarding diversity in cytopathology.

Introduction to Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for Pathology.

CONTEXT.­: Recent developments in machine learning have stimulated intense interest in software that may augment or replace human experts. Machine learning may impact pathology practice by offering new capabilities in analysis, interpretation, and outcomes prediction using images and other data. The principles of operation and management of machine learning systems are unfamiliar to pathologists, who anticipate a need for additional education to be effective as expert users and managers of the new tools. OBJECTIVE.­: To provide a background on machine learning for practicing pathologists, including an overview of algorithms, model development, and performance evaluation; to examine the current status of machine learning in pathology and consider possible roles and requirements for pathologists in local deployment and management of machine learning systems; and to highlight existing challenges and gaps in deployment methodology and regulation. DATA SOURCES.­: Sources include the biomedical and engineering literature, white papers from professional organizations, government reports, electronic resources, and authors' experience in machine learning. References were chosen when possible for accessibility to practicing pathologists without specialized training in mathematics, statistics, or software development. CONCLUSIONS.­: Machine learning offers an array of techniques that in recent published results show substantial promise. Data suggest that human experts working with machine learning tools outperform humans or machines separately, but the optimal form for this combination in pathology has not been established. Significant questions related to the generalizability of machine learning systems, local site verification, and performance monitoring remain to be resolved before a consensus on best practices and a regulatory environment can be established.

To whom the specimen goes: a look at how touch preparations and core needle biopsies are handled in different practices and the effect on fellowship education.

INTRODUCTION: Core needle biopsies (CNBs) have proven to be an excellent source of tissue for diagnosis and ancillary testing in the era of personalized medicine, commonly yielding sufficient material for testing via a relatively minimally invasive technique. Thus, there has been an increase in touch preparations (TPs) evaluated with rapid onsite evaluation (ROSE) of these small biopsies either in isolation or with concurrent fine needle aspiration (FNA). This in turn has forced cytopathology practices to make decisions with regard to processing and workflow of CNBs, which affects cytopathology fellowship education substantially. STUDY DESIGN: The present review is based on a review of recent literature and an evaluation of the authors' personal experiences. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Deciding whether CNBs with associated TPs should be assigned to the cytology service, the subspecialty or general surgical pathology service, or a split between cytopathology and surgical pathology, is complicated. The workflow is variable at different institutions depending on multiple factors. Each of these routes has benefits and disadvantages that can affect patient care and laboratory workflow, in addition to having downstream effects on the quality and type of education our pathology trainees receive. Herein, the advantages and disadvantages of the different approaches for CNB triage are discussed, with an emphasis on the impact upon cytopathology fellowship education.