Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) is a potentially reversible, life-threatening medical emergency. We present a case of a 21-year-old female with evidence of haemolytic anaemia based on the presence of positive markers of haemolysis. Negative Coomb's test, thrombocytopenia and placental infarcts raised suspicion for a thrombotic microangiopathy. She was diagnosed with TTP and managed with emergency plasma exchange. Her recovery was immediate.A presumptive diagnosis of TTP should be based on the presence of microangiopathic haemolytic anaemia with thrombocytopenia and plasma exchange should be initiated while complete work up is pending. Using the regular pentad solely for diagnosis of TTP will lead to underdiagnosis of many cases and should be avoided.Several microangiopathies can be seen during pregnancy including TTP/atypical haemolytic uraemic syndrome, HELLP syndrome, pre-eclampsia, disseminated intravascular coagulopathy and antiphospholipid antibody syndrome. Distinction between each type will be the focus of our discussion as treatment decisions differ accordingly.

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Cancer biomarkers can be used for a variety of purposes related to screening, prediction, stratification, detection, diagnosis, prognosis, treatment design, and monitoring of a therapeutic response. One of the most important characteristics of a given biomarker includes ease of collection allowing for a non-invasive approach and frequent sampling. Such samples may be obtained from serum or plasma, sputum, bronchoalveolar lavage, saliva, nipple discharge, pleural, or peritoneal effusions. Validation of different biomarkers is considered a mandatory method for useful evaluation. In this review, we highlight the clinical applicability of some cancer biomarkers, as well as future approaches for their development and collection, which may help guide clinicians and researchers. The role of liquid biopsies will also be summarized. Further studies using liquid biopsies are needed to elucidate the significance of various sources of biomarkers suitable for clinical application.

Endocrine therapy (ET) is the standard of care for hormone receptor-positive early-stage breast cancer in the adjuvant setting. However, response to ET can vary across patient subgroups. Historically, hormone receptor expression and clinical stage are the main predictors of the benefit of ET. A “window of opportunity” trials has raised significant interest in recent years as a means of assessing the sensitivity of a patient’s cancer to short-term neoadjuvant ET, which provides important prognostic information, and helps in decision-making regarding treatment options in a time-efficient and cost-efficient manner. In the era of genomics, molecular profiling has led to the discovery and evaluation of the prognostic and predictive abilities of new molecular profiles. To realize the goal of personalized medicine, we are in urgent need to explore reliable biomarkers or genomic signatures to accurately predict the clinical response and long-term outcomes associated with ET. Validation of these biomarkers as reliable surrogate endpoints can also lead to a revolution in the clinical trial designs, and potentially avoid the need for repeated tissue biopsies in the surveillance of disease response. The clinical potential of tumor genomic profiling marks the beginning of a new era of precision medicine in breast cancer treatment.