Purpose: The aim of the study was to evaluate CD31 and CD105 immunohistochemical expressions in tissue microarrays from 360 breast carcinomas.Study design: Computerized (ACIS/Chromavision) assisted image analysis was performed to compare immunoreactions in tissue microarrays with those in current paraffin and frozen sections. We also aimed to determine the CD105 and CD31 prognostic significance and relevance in routine practice by correlating results of immunodetections with patients' (n ‫؍‬ 360) outcome (14.3-year follow-up).Results: The results show (a) that in tissue microarrays, the CD31 and CD105 expression quantified by image analysis device did not correlate with the measurements assessed on routine paraffin sections; (b) that CD105 expression is endowed of a prognostic significance in paraffin sections in terms of overall survival (P < 0.01), whereas in contrast, CD31 on paraffin sections did not correlate with patients overall survival; (c) that semiquantitative analysis of CD105 expression correlated with the image analysis measurements in frozen sections ( ‫؍‬ 0.671, P < 0.01) and paraffin ( ‫؍‬ 0.824, P < 0.01) sections. However, paraffin sections were less immunostained than frozen ones.Conclusions: It is concluded (a) that CD105 may be suitable in paraffin sections to evaluated neoangiogenesis; and (b) that tissue microarrays are not suitable substrates for neoangiogenesis evaluation as a prognostic indicator in breast carcinomas, in contrast to current tissue sections.

BACKGROUND Efficient quality control is essential to ensure high sensitivity of Papanicolaou (Pap) smears. For this purpose, rescreening of 10% random negative smears is increasingly felt to be ineffective. Rapid rescreening (RR) of all negative Pap smears is more practical and has received widespread acceptance, especially in Europe, although its sensitivity is difficult to monitor and its retrospective nature may influence the vigilance of the screeners. The method of rapid prescreening (RPS) overcomes these drawbacks because rapid review of Pap smears precedes full screening. METHODS All routine conventional Pap smears (n = 8364) over 2 months underwent RPS by 12 cytotechnologists, followed by full screening. Data were analyzed to determine correlation between the RPS sensitivity of individual cytotechnologists and both their sensitivity in full screening and their years of experience as cytotechnologists. RESULTS There was a striking variability in sensitivity (15.4%–72.7%) among the 12 screeners with an atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASCUS) threshold. There was no correlation between RPS sensitivity of individual cytotechnologists with either their sensitivity in full screening or their years of experience as cytotechnologists. CONCLUSIONS The skills required of a cytotechnologist for achieving a high sensitivity in RPS are apparently different from those of full screening and are independent of the sensitivity of the screeners at full screening or of the years of experience as cytotechnologists. Cancer (Cancer Cytopathol) 2006; © 2006 American Cancer Society.

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Background: A potential larger perceived placebo effect in children compared with adults could influence the detection of the treatment effect and the extrapolation of the treatment benefit from adults to children. This study aims to explore this potential difference, using a meta-epidemiological approach. Methods: A systematic review of the literature was done to identify trials included in meta-analyses evaluating a drug intervention with separate data for adults and children. The standardized mean change and the proportion of responders (binary outcomes) were used to calculate the perceived placebo effect. A meta-regression analysis was conducted to test for the difference between adults and children of the perceived placebo effect. results: For binary outcomes, the perceived placebo effect was significantly more favorable in children compared with adults (β = 0.13; P = 0.001). Parallel group trials (β = −1.83; P < 0.001), subjective outcomes (β = −0.76; P < 0.001), and the disease type significantly influenced the perceived placebo effect. conclusion: The perceived placebo effect is different between adults and children for binary outcomes. This difference seems to be influenced by the design, the disease, and outcomes. Calibration of new studies for children should consider cautiously the placebo effect in children.