Papers by Véronique Verriele
Molecular Diagnosis & Therapy

Open Journal of Internal Medicine, 2016
Purpose: Although controversial, assessment of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) expression... more Purpose: Although controversial, assessment of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) expression is required for the approved indications of Cetuximab in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). With the objective of improving patient selection, "ERBITUX-OUEST" study aimed at analyzing EGFR status in a large cohort of mCRC patients who received cetuximab without preliminary EGFR screening, and assessing the correlation between EGFR status and response to treatment retrospectively. Patients and methods: 332 patients treated with Irinotecan Cetuximab based regimen after progression on irinotecan or oxaliplatin therapy were included. EGFR status was assessed using three available immunohistochemistry (IHC) tests and in situ hybridization in case of negativity. Clinical outcomes of EGFR-positive and EGFR-non-detected (or considered as negative with at least one test) patients were compared. Results: Of the 332 samples centrally screened, 194 were classified as full-positive (i.e., EGFR-positive for all three tests), 86 as full-negative, and 52 as discordant. One third of the 131 negative samples with FDA approved test should be reclassified as positive with at least one of the two others tests. Regarding results from FDA approved test only, neither objective response rate (ORR), progression-free survival (PFS) nor overall survival (OS) differed significantly between EGFR-negative and EGFR-positive patients (P = 0.788, 0.326 and 0.888, respectively). Similarly, comparison of full-negative to other groups did not show any significant difference in terms of ORR (P = 0.507), PFS (P = 0.222) or OS (P = 0.686). Conclusion: These data strongly argue against mCRC patients selection for Cetuximab treatment based on EGFR expression as measured by currently available IHC technics.

Molecular & Cellular Proteomics, 2015
To date, there is no available targeted therapy for patients who are diagnosed with triple-negati... more To date, there is no available targeted therapy for patients who are diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancers (TNBC). The aim of this study was to identify a new specific target for specific treatments. Frozen primary tumors were collected from 83 adjuvant therapynaive TNBC patients. These samples were used for global proteome profiling by iTRAQ-OFFGEL-LC-MS/MS approach in two series: a training cohort (n ؍ 42) and a test set (n ؍ 41). Patients who remains free of local or distant metastasis for a minimum of 5 years after surgery were classified in the no-relapse group; the others were in the relapse group. OPLS and Kaplan-Meier analyses were performed to select candidate markers, which were validated by immunohistochemistry. Three proteins were identified in the training set and validated in the test set by Kaplan-Meier method and immunohistochemistry (IHC): TrpRS as a good prognostic markers and DP and TSP1 as bad prognostic markers. We propose the establishment of an IHC test to calculate the score of TrpRS, DP, and TSP1 in TNBC tumors to evaluate the degree of aggressiveness of the tumors. Finally, we propose that DP and TSP1 could provide therapeutic targets for specific treatments. Molecular & Cellular
Annales de pathologie, 2003

Laboratory Investigation, 2003
The aim of the study was to assess the sensitivity and specificity of fluorescence immunocytochem... more The aim of the study was to assess the sensitivity and specificity of fluorescence immunocytochemistry (uCytϩ assay) as combined with urinary cytology for detection of primary and recurrent urothelial carcinomas. We analyzed 694 urinary samples from 236 new symptomatic patients and 458 patients followed after transurethral resection (TUR) for bladder tumor. Lesions suspicious for cancer at cystoscopy were sampled by biopsies or TUR. Sensitivity and specificity of tests were calculated using cystoscopy and histopathology, whether or not combined as gold standards. In new symptomatic patients, sensitivity of uCytϩ was 40%, 88.2%, and 76.7%, whereas that of urinary cytology was 30%, 70.6%, and 83.3%, respectively, in G1, G2, and G3 tumors. In follow-up cases, sensitivity of uCytϩ was 61.9%, 66.7%, and 76.9%, whereas that of urinary cytology was 38.1%, 58.3%, and 64.1%, respectively, in G1, G2, and G3 tumors. The combination of uCytϩ and urinary cytology significantly increased mean sensitivity in newly diagnosed cases (86.4% versus 71.2% with urinary cytology only, p Ͻ 0.05), as well as in patients followed after TUR (79.3% versus 55.2%, p Ͻ 0.001). Specificity of uCytϩ and urinary cytology was identical in new patients (83.3%) and was 81.9% and 86.2%, respectively, in patients followed after TUR. In patients with negative cystoscopy, positive uCytϩ tests had a strong predictive value for tumor recurrence at 1 year (47.0% versus 11.9% in patients with negative assay, p Ͻ 0.01). We conclude that combining uCytϩ with urinary cytology improves the detection of urothelial carcinomas as well in patients with symptoms suggesting bladder cancer as in those followed after treatment.

European Urology, 2000
Objectives: To compare the results of the BTA Trak™ test with voided urine cytology (VUC) in the ... more Objectives: To compare the results of the BTA Trak™ test with voided urine cytology (VUC) in the diagnosis and follow–up of bladder tumors.Patients and Methods: Urine samples were obtained from 53 patients with bladder tumor (77 samples) and 53 patients treated for bladder tumor with no evidence of disease on the basis of cystoscopic evaluation (88 samples). Urine samples were collected prior to cystoscopy. The BTA assay was performed by the BTA Trak™ test according to the manufacturer’s recommendations. A value >14 U/ml was considered abnormal.Results: There was a statistically significant increase in median BTA value with increasing stage of tumor: 11.9, 57.9 and 391.0 U/ml respectively for stages pTa, pT1 and pT2/3 (p<0.0001, Kruskal–Wallis test). There was also a correlation between increasing grade and median BTA values measured at 6.9, 13.1 and 235.0 U/ml in grades 1, 2 and 3 tumors respectively (p<0.0001, Kruskall–Wallis test). The overall sensitivity of the BTA Trak™ test was 58.4% compared to 46.7% for VUC, a difference of 11.7%, which was statistically significant (McNemar test, p<0.005). The sensitivity of both tests combined was 63.6%. The specificity of the VUC (94.3%) was significantly higher than that of the BTA Trak™ (75.0%) (p<0.005, McNemar test). The accuracy of the Bard Trak™ test (67.3%) was similar to that of VUC (66.9%).Conclusion: The BTA Trak™ test is more sensitive than urinary cytology in the detection of bladder tumors but the improvement involved is insufficient to consider decreasing the frequency of endoscopic examinations in the follow–up of superficial bladder tumor.
European Journal of Radiology Extra, 2008
ABSTRACT Solitary fibrous tumors (SFT) are rare neoplasm usually arising from the pleura. The lit... more ABSTRACT Solitary fibrous tumors (SFT) are rare neoplasm usually arising from the pleura. The literature contains few reports on the radiologic findings of extrathoracic SFT. We present two cases of SFT of the pelvis and emphasize the diagnostic value of MRI and pathoanatomic features and necessity of long-term follow-up.

Annales de Pathologie, 2010
In Europe, patients who may benefit from an HER2 targeted drug are currently selected by immunohi... more In Europe, patients who may benefit from an HER2 targeted drug are currently selected by immunohistochemistry (IHC). In situ hybridization (ISH) techniques should be used for complementary assessment of ambiguous 2+ IHC cases and for the calibration of the IHC technique. Eligibility to an HER2 target treatment is defined by an HER2 positive status being IHC test 3+ or 2+ amplified. Reliable detection of HER2 status is essential to the appropriate usage of HER2 targeted drugs because its specificity is limited to tumors overexpressing HER2. It is essential that the IHC evaluation of the HER2 status of a mammary carcinoma is optimized and reliable. This GEFPICS' guidelines look over the different steps of the IHC technique, the controls and, the rules for interpretation. Once acquired, this knowledge must be perpetuated by the observation of rules of good technical practice (internal and external controls, quality assurance programs).
Annales de Pathologie, 2004
Cas pour diagnostic Accepté pour publication le 6 août 2003 Tirés à part : G. Bertrand, voir adre... more Cas pour diagnostic Accepté pour publication le 6 août 2003 Tirés à part : G. Bertrand, voir adresse en début d'article. Un sourire inquiétant A disturbing smile Gérard Bertrand (1) , Dominique Heron (2) , Charles Masson (3) , Véronique Verriele (1)
Annales de Pathologie, 2009
Annales de pathologie, 2004

Annales de Pathologie, 2014
International guidelines on HER2 determination in breast cancer have just been updated by the Ame... more International guidelines on HER2 determination in breast cancer have just been updated by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and College of American Pathologists (CAP), on the basis of more than ten-year practice, results of clinical trials and concordance studies. The GEFPICS group, composed of expert pathologists in breast cancer, herein presents these recommendations, adapted to the French routine practice. These guidelines highlight the possible diagnosis difficulties with regards to HER2 status determination, such as intra-tumor heterogeneity, special histological subtypes and biomarker re-evaluation during metastatic relapse. Pre-analytical issues and updated scoring criteria (especially for equivocal cases) are detailed, in order to decrease the occurrence of false negative cases. In the era of personalized medicine, pathologists are more than ever involved in the quality of oncotheranostic biomarker evaluation.

Annales de Pathologie, 2014
Biomarker assessment of breast cancer tumor samples is part of the routine workflow of pathology ... more Biomarker assessment of breast cancer tumor samples is part of the routine workflow of pathology laboratories. International guidelines have recently been updated, with special regards to the pre-analytical steps that are critical for the quality of immunohistochemical and in situ hybridization procedures, whatever the biomarker analyzed. Fixation and specimen handling protocols must be standardized, validated and carefully tracked. Cooperation and training of the personnel involved in the specimen workflow (e.g. radiologists, surgeons, nurses, technicians and pathologists) are of paramount importance. The GEFPICS' update of the recommendations herein details and comments the different steps of the pre-analytical process. Application of these guidelines and participation to quality insurance programs are mandatory to ensure the correct evaluation of oncotheranostic biomarkers.
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Papers by Véronique Verriele