Abstract
Dr Magliocco, chair of the Department of Anatomic Pathology, welcomed a near-capacity audience made up of pathologists, histotechnologists, researchers, and pathology residents and medical students at the 2nd Annual Moffitt Anatomic Pathology Symposium: Practicing Pathology in a Changing World that took place in Clearwater Beach, Florida, on September 26, 2015. Th focus of the symposium was on the updates of contemporary and emerging information and technology that impact practicing pathologists in an ever-changing world.
Invited speakers included Drs Odze and Schnitt, both from Harvard Medical School in Boston, who shared their expert knowledge in gastrointestinal (GI) and breast pathology, as well as Theresa B. Burchette, Lawrence Patton Jr, John J. Shelley, and Steven Westra. Experts from the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute included Drs Magliocco, Bui, Centeno, Coppola, Hussaini, Khalil, Khazia, and Rosa, as well as Mr Hicks and Ms Balasi, Molina, and Snyder. Drs Minton and Malafa also presented topics in molecular pathology, digital pathology, and GI and breast cancers. The Ask the Expert Digital Pathology session was an interactive discussion of real breast and GI pathology cases among the experts and the audience.
A total of 22 scientific abstracts were proffered by students, residents, fellows, and staff. Dr Altiok, chair of the research section of the Department of Anatomic Pathology, presented awards to the 3 best submissions.
Dr Ryzhova and colleagues earned the Best Poster award for their work titled “Mutation Profiling of High-Grade Serous Ovarian Adenocarcinomas Suggests STK11 and NOTCH1 as Candidate Biomarkers.” This paper reported identification of STK11 mutations as possible biomarkers for platinum-therapy response and detailed actionable mutations in several patients with ovarian cancer.
The Best Research Project prize was awarded to Dr Dettloff and colleagues for their work “Utility of a microRNA-Based Assay for Diagnosing Tumor Origin in Soft Tissue Sarcomas.” The investigators examined the recent experience at Moffitt Cancer Center with noncoding microRNA tumor profiling of tumors of uncertain origin. They listed several situations in which the technique can be particularly useful, such as the identification of germ-cell tumors. They also recognized pitfalls of the technique, such as a bias toward sarcoma, possibly representing a biological shift in recurrent or previously treated tumors. The Best Clinicopathologic Correlation award was won by Dr Liu and colleagues for their poster titled “Spindle Cell/Sclerosing Rhabdomyosarcoma Is a New and Underdiagnosed Entity: A Clinical and Tissue Microarray Immunohistochemical Study With Literature Review.” This work emphasized the utility of using tissue microarray to screen previously encountered cases with antibodies directed against emerging biomarkers.