Methods to appropriately develop, assess, regulate, and reimburse must be established for these advanced technologies. Efficient and methodical processes that meet the needs of stakeholders in the biomedical research community, therapeutics developers, and health care delivery enterprises will ultimately benefit individual patients. To help address this, the authors formed a collaborative program-the Quantitative Imaging Biomarker

Alliance. This program draws from the very successful precedent set by the Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise effort but is adapted to the needs of imaging science. Strategic guidance supporting the development, qualification, and deployment of quantitative imaging biomarkers will lead to improved standardization of imaging tests, proof of imaging Sotrastaurin concentration test performance, and greater use of imaging to predict the biologic behavior of tissue and monitor therapy response. These, in turn, confer value to corporate stakeholders, providing incentives to bring new and innovative products to market.”
“Background

Merkel Ion Channel Ligand Library screening cell carcinoma (MCC)

is a relatively infrequent, rapidly progressive and often final cutaneous malignancy exhibiting neuroendocrine, differentiation. It has a penchant for local recurrence and distant metastasis to various sites, including regional lymph nodes, distant skin, lung, liver, testis and other rare organs, such as the pancreas. There are only 4 cases of selleck screening library MCC metastatic to the pancreas reported in the English-language literature, and they were all diagnosed by histology from pancreatic resection.

Case

A 79-year-old woman with a large pancreatic tail anus underwent endoscopic ultrasound guided fine needle aspiration

(EUS-FNA). flee had a history of MCC of the upper extremity with wide local excision 15 months earlier. Metastatic MCC was diagnosed based oil the cytomorphology, characteristic immunohistochemical staining pattern, clinical history and comparison of the morphology with that of the primacy tumor.

Conclusion

The cytomorphology and immunohistochemical profile of this neoplasm mimicked a pancreatic endocrine tumor. We discuss the diagnostic pitfalls and differential diagnoses of the metastatic pancreatic MCC highlighting the importance of thorough clinical history, attention to cytologic detail and corroborating immunohistochemistry in arriving at the correct diagnosis. This is the first case of a metastatic pancreatic MCC diagnosed dry EUS-FNA:4 cytology. (Acto Cytol 2009;53:223-228)”
“BACKGROUND: Biventricular support can be achieved using paracorporeal biventricular assist devices (BiVADs), the total artificial heart (TAH), and implantable VADs. This study evaluated the influence of the device on patient survival.