The advent of immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) in modern oncology has significantly improved survival in several cancer settings. A subgroup of women with breast cancer (BC) has immunogenic infiltration of lymphocytes with expression of programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1). These patients may potentially benefit from ICI targeting the programmed death 1 (PD-1)/PD-L1 signaling axis. The use of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) as predictive and prognostic biomarkers has been under intense examination. Emerging data suggest that TILs are associated with response to both cytotoxic treatments and immunotherapy, particularly for patients with triple-negative BC. In this review from The International Immuno-Oncology Biomarker Working Group, we discuss (a) the biological understanding of TILs, (b) their analytical and clinical validity and efforts toward the clinical utility in BC, and (c) the current status of PD-L1 and TIL testing across different continents, including experiences from low-to-middle-income countries, incorporating also the view of a patient advocate. This information will help set the stage for future approaches to optimize the understanding and clinical utilization of TIL analysis in patients with BC.

The overwhelming majority of patients eligible for HER2-targeted therapy in our institution are unable to receive it because of financial constraints and limited access to health insurance. There is a higher fraction of patients with the triple negative phenotype compared to the Western population.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) associated head and neck squamous cell cancers (HNSCC) have become increasingly common in the West, but the same cannot be said about India. These cancers have a different biology and confer a better prognosis, however, its current role in the management of patients in India is not clearly defined. At the 35th Indian Cooperative Oncology Network conference held in September 2016, a panel of radiation, surgical and medical oncologists, pathologists, and basic scientists from across the country having experience in clinical research with respect to HPV in HNSCC reviewed the available literature from India. All the ideas and facts were thereafter collated in this report. Various topics of controversy in dealing with the diagnosis and management of HPV-associated HNSCC have been highlighted in this report in context to the Indian scenario. Furthermore, the prevalence of the same and its association with tobacco and high-risk sexual behavior has been touched on. Conclusively, a set of recommendations has been proposed by the panel to guide the practicing oncologists of the country while dealing with HPV-associated HNSCC.

The nomogram constructed on postsurgical tumour samples will be a value addition to histopathology for the detection of neck node metastasis in pathologically node-negative patients.

Collision tumor is the occurrence of two histologically and morphologically distinct tumors within the same organ with no histological admixture. Collision tumors of the thyroid are extremely rare constituting < 1% of all thyroid tumors. Clinical profiles and pathological features of Medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) and Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) presenting as Collision tumors of thyroid, diagnosed between 2009 and 2019, at a tertiary care cancer center were retrospectively analyzed. Collision tumors comprised 4.7% of all MTC cases diagnosed over 10 years. A total of 21 cases (11males, 11 females, M:F = 1) were retrieved with the mean age of patients being 45.33 years (range 26-77 years). More than half of PTCs involved the right lobe of the thyroid (66.6%). About half (53.4%) of MTCs affected the left lobe. Imaging done preoperatively failed to identify the smaller second tumor in 60% of the cases with both tumours in separate lobes. Pre-operative FNAC showed only MTC in all 8 cases in which it was done. Papillary microcarcinoma (m-PTC) was seen in 85.7% cases, with one case of multifocal m-PTC. MTC (mean size 3.12 cm), on an average, was 3 times larger than the PTC (mean size 0.91 cm). The histological variants of MTC included-oncocytic (1/21, 4.7%), spindle cell (1/21, 4.7%), epithelial (3/21, 14.2%) and classical (16/21, 76.2%) and of PTC included classic PTC (12/21, 57.14%), Hurthle cell (2/21, 9.52%), tall cell (1/21, 4.76%) and follicular variant of PTC (6/21, 28.57%). The microscopic extrathyroidal extension (ETE) due to MTC and PTC component was 42.8% and 9.5% respectively. Lymph node metastasis was seen in 16 (76.2%) cases; 87.5% (14/16) of which were contributed by MTC, 12.5% (2/16) by PTC alone, and 12.5% (2/16) cases showed metastasis from both MTC and PTC. MTC had a higher stage than PTC in 85.5% of cases. Collision tumors of the thyroid are exceedingly rare, and possibly underdiagnosed due to variation in sampling techniques, especially of the grossly "normal lobe". The low incidence in our cohort is in favor of the "Chance theory" of co-occurrence. This diagnosis is important due to its therapeutic and prognostic implications.