Abstract Clinical research output in the emergency department (ED) continues to be constrained by limitations in funding for researchers, demands of patient care on ED providers, and difficulties in obtaining high‐quality data. In response, several institutions have established programs in which student volunteers are integrated into department workflows to increase clinical research output and introduce pre‐health students to careers in medicine. One such program, the student volunteer clinical research program, presently consists of over 40 undergraduate and post‐baccalaureate student volunteers who screen, consent, and enroll patients into prospective studies in the ED of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Ronald Reagan Medical Center. The program is led by student coordinators who collaborate with departmental research staff and faculty. Our program is unique in that it is primarily run by the students themselves. Experienced student research associates facilitate recruitment through a competitive biannual application process, train new volunteers to perform on‐shift research duties, and monitor participants for compliance with both hospital and program policies. Participation in the program provides students with exposure to frontline medical research, opportunities to observe clinical medicine, and access to a variety of program‐specific resources including student‐led committees, career development resources, and mentorship from peers, alumni, and faculty. This concept piece serves as a structural model for other institutions seeking to implement volunteer clinical research or bolster existing programs through increased student‐led initiatives.
Neuroblastoma remains one of the most clinically diverse cancers common in pediatric patients. An important prognostic indicator for neuroblastoma involves the NMYC gene, which is the differentiating factor between high-risk and low-risk disease; the five-year survival rates for patients with and without NMYC mutations are 40% and 95%, respectively. This review assesses our current understanding of the molecular role and function of NMYC in risk stratification and disease progression and highlights key areas of research to improve existing and identify novel targets for neuroblastoma treatments.
Lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma (LPL, previously termed lymphoplasmacytoid lymphoma) is an uncommon mature B-cell lymphoma usually involving the bone marrow and less commonly the spleen and/or lymph nodes. The majority of patients with LPL have a circulating monoclonal immunoglobulin M (IgM) that can lead to a hyperviscosity syndrome known as Waldenström macroglobulinemia (WM). Although LPL appears to be a sporadic disease in the majority of cases, a familial predisposition is present in some cases. The main chromosomal abnormalities are trisomy 12, trisomy 3, isochromosome 6p, and 14q rearrangements involving IgH among complex karyotypes. Herein, we present an 89-year-old male patient who presents with LPL involving 80% of the marrow cellularity with circulating lymphoma cells. Chromosomal analysis detected two unrelated abnormal clonal populations: one clone has trisomy 12 as the sole abnormality in the stimulated culture, while the other clone has a 13q deletion as the sole abnormality in the cells from the non-stimulated culture. Trisomy 12 is one of the most common abnormalities in B-CLL and it is associated with an intermediate prognosis. Deletions 13q have been identified in B-cell malignancies, non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHL), as well as myelodysplastic syndromes and chronic myeloproliferative neoplasms (Heim and Mitelman, 2015). Trisomy 12/13q- FISH slide was reviewed looking at the segmented cells. Fifty segmented cells were scored and a 13q- pattern was detected in 36% (18/50) of the cells suggesting that this finding (the 13q- clone) may be myeloid in origin. Clinicopathologic correlation of these results was recommended.
Eight cases were reported in order to elucidate the important role of electron microscopy (EM) played in diagnosis of knotty tumors. The diagnosis of tumors made by light microscopy (LM) could be confirmed, corrected or eliminated with EM, and the types and histogenesis of tumors could be decided more accurately with EM than with LM. But EM has its inherent limitations, so it is emphasized that diagnosis made by EM must rest on solid basis of LM, and sometimes EM should be combined with other methods, such as histochemistry and immunohistochemistry.
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