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.

Clinical implications of AGR2 in primary prostate cancer: Results from a large-scale study.

Human anterior gradient-2 (AGR2) has been implicated in carcinogenesis of various solid tumours, but the expression data in prostate cancer are contradictory regarding its prognostic value. The objective of this study is to evaluate the expression of AGR2 in a large prostate cancer cohort and to correlate it with clinicopathological data. AGR2 protein expression was analysed immunohistochemically in 1023 well-characterized prostate cancer samples with a validated antibody. AGR2 expression levels in carcinomas were compared with matched tissue samples of adjacent normal glands. AGR2 expression levels were dichotomized and tested for statistical significance. Increased AGR2 expression was found in 93.5% of prostate cancer cases. AGR2 levels were significantly higher in prostate cancer compared with normal prostate tissue. A gradual loss of AGR2 expression was associated with increasing tumour grade (ISUP), and AGR2 expression is inversely related to patient survival, however, multivariable significance is not achieved. AGR2 is clearly upregulated in the majority of prostate cancer cases, yet a true diagnostic value appears unlikely. In spite of the negative correlation of AGR2 expression with increasing tumour grade, no independent prognostic significance was found in this large-scale study.