International survey of awareness of genetic risk in the clinical sarcoma community

Assessing Sarcoma Awareness Among the General Population in Minnesota: A Cross-Sectional Survey Study from the Minnesota State Fair in 2015 and 2022

Sarcomas are commonly misdiagnosed, and treatment delays negatively impact patient outcomes. The purpose of this study is to explore patient threshold for and timeline to medical evaluation, to identify providers most likely to be contacted first, and to assess general sarcoma knowledge in Minnesota's general population. Voluntary participants were recruited at the 2015 and 2022 Minnesota State Fair to complete a three-part survey. Part 1 assessed evaluation timeline and provider choice, part 2 evaluated sarcoma knowledge via a ten-question survey, and part 3 documented demographics. Responses were electronically recorded, and results were tabulated. Overall, 2124 participants completed some or all of the survey. Part 1: Participants indicated they would seek more urgent treatment for a painful mass compared to a non-painful mass (p < 0.001). The majority (77%) of participants indicated a family medicine physician would be their first contact for painful and non-painful masses. Part 2: There was no difference in overall score (percent correct) when comparing results from 2015 (mean = 40%) to 2022 (mean = 42%) (p = 0.183). Overall, 16% (349/2117) of participants had no correct responses. Individuals who self-identified as Hispanic or Latino ethnicity and a non-White race performed worse (p < 0.001). In general, scores improved with increased education and those with a graduate or professional degree had an estimated 2.515-point increase in score compared to participants with some high school education or high school diploma/general education diploma (p < 0.001). Participants with a healthcare background scored better (p < 0.001). Pain is a driving factor for patient-initiated evaluation, and primary care providers are the most likely first contact for patients. General sarcoma awareness remains low, even among those with advanced degrees and healthcare experience. Ongoing educational efforts are warranted for both the general public and healthcare communities in Minnesota.

Uncovering Hereditary Tumor Syndromes: Emerging Role of Surgical Pathology

With the increased use of modern next generation sequencing technologies in routine molecular pathology practice, the proportion of cancer cases with a definite or probable hereditary background seems to be steadily increasing. Currently, it is assumed that ≥10% of all malignancies develop in the setting of germline predisposition. Diagnosis and recognition of cancer predisposition syndromes relies not rarely on distinctive histopathological features that proved to be highly valuable and reproducible in uncovering those diseases that would otherwise have gone undetected by clinicians as being hereditary in nature. This is especially true in case of new mutations without suspicious family history. Example of such entities are fumarate hydratase-deficient renal cell carcinoma (RCC), succinate dehydrogenase-deficient RCC, hereditary gastrointestinal stromal tumor syndromes and many other diseases. It is remarkable that many of these inherited cancer syndromes do present as unifocal disease with highly variable age of onset so that many of them are misinterpreted as sporadic on clinical grounds. Availability of specialized cancer screening programs and disease-specific follow-up schemes for several hereditary cancer syndromes encourages the recognition of such disorders, so that "at risk patients" can be enrolled in such programs for early detection and timely intervention/ treatment of these malignancies which are in the majority of cases aggressive. In several conditions, as in familial adenomatous polyposis coli (FAP), well established prophylactic surgical interventions may be adopted to prevent the disease manifestations, highlighting the importance of the timely recognition of these potentially life-limiting neoplasms. In this review, the clinicopathological, demographic and histological features that are considered highly suggestive of a hereditary basis of "a neoplasm under consideration" are highlighted and discussed briefly. The details of some of these entities are in addition dealt with in reviews devoted to them in this special issue.

Genomic medicine practice among physicians in Taiwan

Aim: To examine genomic medicine (GM) practice and associated factors (i.e., attitudes, intention, self-efficacy, previous training in genomics, and demographic characteristics) among Taiwanese physicians. Methods: A survey was distributed to physicians attending an internal training workshop at a large medical center in Taiwan. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Results: A total of 137 physicians comprised our final sample; less than a third of them had practiced GM. Yet, participants overall had positive intention, favorable attitudes, and high self-efficacy in GM practice. Moreover, intention, attitudes, self-efficacy, educational level, and continuing education in GM were positively and significantly associated with participants’ GM practice. Conclusion: Offering continuing education for Taiwanese physicians is needed to enhance their practice in GM.