ABSTRACT
Introduction: Oncotype DX, a 21 gene assay has prognostic and chemotherapy predictive value. During COVID pandemic, guidance issued extended use of genomic testing to avoid chemotherapy to node positive patients. We aimed to identify impact of Oncotype DX testing in pre-operative setting of early breast cancer. Method(s): We retrospectively reviewed those patients where MDT recommended upfront Oncotype DX testing from 1st March 2020 till Sept 2022. Result(s): 59 patients were identified. The mean age was 55.7 +/- 11.4 years. Two-thirds were postmenopausal. Four-fifth had symptomatic presentation. the mean tumour size was 28.8 +/- 8.7 mm. Invasive ductal carcinoma was seen in 81% (N=48). Progesterone receptor positivity was seen in 93% (n=55). Node positivity was seen in 44% (n=26) while nodes were negative in 56% (n=33). Overall, low, intermediate and high score was seen in 47% (n=28), 8% (n=5) and 45% (n=26) respectively. In node negative patients, low, intermediate, and high score was seen in 45% (n=15), 10% (n=3) and 45% (n=15) respectively. Chemotherapy was avoided in 55% patients. In node positive patients, low, intermediate, and high score was seen in 50% (n=15), 8% (n=2) and 42% (n=11) respectively. Overall, chemotherapy was avoided in 23% patients with node positive disease. Conclusion(s): Upfront Oncotype DX testing can be used in node negative breast cancer patients. However, it should be used very cautiously in node positive women.Copyright © 2023
ABSTRACT
Teacher training/education is problematic in every country, and it was puzzling across historical epochs. There were questions and preoccupations about the perfect teacher or how to educate a better teacher for our children, although the quest for such a teacher was not always scientifical or sustained by proof. But starting with the early twentieth century the search for the better teacher became scientific and serios. Many theories have been developed. Starting from some of them, this paper, propose an innovative approach for the best adaptation of students to labour market. Our domain is teacher education in Business and Economics. The aim is to put together the labour market organizations (LMO), in our case, trainers form a commercial bank, with higher education (HE) teachers to construct joint activities from which students (the future teacher of Economics) become better critical thinkers. The reason is that in recent years, critical thinking (CT) was listed among the most desired skills for twenty-first century jobs. Hence, our project is aiming to enhance this skill in student-teachers and bring labour market in the university to create a more adapted curriculum to job needs. In the following we shall present a curriculum for Pedagogy of Economics and concrete examples of blended, work-based learning scenarios in an online synchronous environment (a condition determined by the Covid-19 pandemic). © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.