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Black soldier fly (BSF, Hermetia illucens) larvae is considered one of the insect species with great potential for large-scale production as feed and food. For this to become economically feasible and to contribute to a circular economy, BSF larvae should be reared on substrates with little or no alternative use for feed and food production. One such class of alternative substrate sources consists of former food products. However, BSF larvae may accumulate chemical contaminants from the substrate, which may originate from the foodstuff and/or the packaging materials. This study aimed to investigate the possible presence of chemical contaminants in BSF larvae being reared on former foodstuff substrates at both laboratory and industrial scale. Four experimental treatments were set up: with meat or vegetarian, and containing between 3-6% of either plastic or paperboard carton packaging material. Four-day old BSF larvae were reared for seven days on these substrates. Concentrations of heavy metals, mineral oil hydrocarbons, dioxins and PCBs, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were determined in the substrate, residual material, and the larvae. Results suggest that BSF larvae can be reared on former food products containing traces of packaging materials, without negative effects on their growth or survival. Bio-accumulation was observed for most of the tested contaminants, in particular for mineral oils and cadmium, which had a bio-accumulation rate of, respectively, about five and 20. However, none of the concentrations of the analysed contaminants in the substrate and the larvae exceeded the respective legal limits in the EU. Results of this pilot study were promising. As a next step, more different former food products should be investigated in future research.

Treatment failure through radioresistance of tumours is associated with activation of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). Tumour cell proliferation, DNA-repair, hypoxia and metastases-formation are four mechanisms in which EGFR signalling has an important role. In clinical trials, a correlation has been demonstrated between high EGFR expression in tumours and poor outcome after radiotherapy. Inhibition of EGFR signalling pathways improves the effectiveness of radiotherapy of head and neck cancers by overcoming these main mechanisms of radioresistance. The fact that only a minority of the patients respond to EGFR inhibitors reflects the complexity of interactions between EGFR-dependent signalling pathways and the tumour microenvironment. Furthermore, many components of the microenvironment are potential targets for therapeutic interventions. Characterisation of the interaction of EGFR signalling and the tumour microenvironment is therefore necessary to improve the effectiveness of combined modality treatment with radiotherapy and targeted agents. Here, the current status of knowledge is reviewed and directions for future research are discussed.

BackgroundAutomated analysis of immunohistochemically stained tissue sections is of great importance in cancer research to detect tumor-specific prognostic markers and make therapy decisions. Here, an automated quantitative analysis is presented to assess the colocalization of CAIX, a membrane-bound hypoxic marker and Ki-67, a nuclear proliferation marker.MethodsTissue sections of 104 biopsies from 89 patients were stained for CAIX and Ki-67 with diaminobenzidine and haematoxylin counterstain. Image scans of whole tumor sections were recorded and image maps were created with parametric mapping to quantify the markers and assess the colocalization.ResultsThe fraction of CAIX showed a range of 0–93%. The interobserver correlation and the correlation between manual scores and automated analysis were both very strong (rs=0.96, p <0.0001, and rs=0.97, p <0.0001). The labelling index of Ki-67 exhibited a range of 0–42% with less strong interobserver and manual to automated analysis correlations (rs=0.90, p <0.0001, and rs=0.71, p <0.0008). The relative tumor area positive for both markers varied from 0 – 76%.ConclusionParametric mapping of immunohistochemically stained tumor sections is a reliable method to quantitatively analyze membrane-bound proteins and assess the colocalization of various tumor markers in different subcellular compartments.

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