BACKGROUND: To the authors' knowledge, the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on cytopathology practices worldwide has not been investigated formally. In the current study, data from 41 respondents from 23 countries were reported. METHODS: Data regarding the activity of each cytopathology laboratory during 4 weeks of COVID-19 lockdown were collected and compared with those obtained during the corresponding period in 2019. The overall number and percentage of exfoliative and fine-needle aspiration cytology samples from each anatomic site were recorded. Differences in the malignancy and suspicious rates between the 2 periods were analyzed using a meta-analytical approach. RESULTS: Overall, the sample volume was lower compared with 2019 (104,319 samples vs 190,225 samples), with an average volume reduction of 45.3% (range, 0.1%-98.0%). The percentage of samples from the cervicovaginal tract, thyroid, and anorectal region was significantly reduced (P < .05). Conversely, the percentage of samples from the urinary tract, serous cavities, breast, lymph nodes, respiratory tract, salivary glands, central nervous system, gastrointestinal tract, pancreas, liver, and biliary tract increased (P < .05). An overall increase of 5.56% (95% CI, 3.77%-7.35%) in the malignancy rate in nongynecological samples during the COVID-19 pandemic was observed. When the suspicious category was included, the overall increase was 6.95% (95% CI, 4.63%-9.27%). CONCLUSIONS: The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a drastic reduction in the total number of cytology specimens regardless of anatomic site or specimen type. The rate of malignancy increased, reflecting the prioritization of patients with cancer who were considered to be at high risk. Prospective monitoring of the effect of delays in access to health services during the lockdown period is warranted. Cancer Cytopathol 2020;0:2-10.

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Innovative therapies are urgently needed to combat cancer. Thermal ablation of tumor cells is a promising minimally invasive treatment option. Infrared light can penetrate human tissues and reach superficial malignancies. MXenes are a class of 2D materials that consist of carbides/nitrides of transition metals. The transverse surface plasmons of MXenes allow for efficient light absorption and light-to-heat conversion, making MXenes promising agents for photothermal therapy (PTT). To date, near-infrared (NIR) light lasers have been used in PTT studies explicitly in a continuous mode. We hypothesized that pulsed NIR lasers have certain advantages for the development of tailored PTT treatment targeting tumor cells. The pulsed lasers offer a wide range of controllable parameters, such as power density, duration of pulses, pulse frequency, and so on. Consequently, they can lower the total energy applied and enable the ablation of tumor cells while sparing adjacent healthy tissues. We show for the first time that a pulsed 1064 nm laser could be employed for selective ablation of cells loaded with Ti3C2T x MXene. We demonstrate both low toxicity and good biocompatibility of this MXene in vitro, as well as a favorable safety profile based on the experiments in vivo. Furthermore, we analyze the interaction of MXene with cells in several cell lines and discuss possible artifacts of commonly used cellular metabolic assays in experiments with MXenes. Overall, these studies provide a basis for the development of efficient and safe protocols for minimally invasive therapies for certain tumors.

Although some studies have investigated the clinicopathologic relationships between papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) and Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT), there is still no clear understanding of differences in tumor immune microenvironment for PTC with coexisting HT and HT effect on PTC progression. The aim of this study was to clarify immune-mediated mechanisms of coexisting HT, which might influence PTC progression. 30 patients with histologically confirmed conventional-type PTC and 30 patients with PTC and coexisting HT were enrolled in the study. To analyze the role of immune-mediated links between PTC and HT, immunohistochemical investigation was conducted to count the number of different immune cells including T-cytotoxic cells (CD8), plasma cells (CD138), Treg cells (FOXP3), mast cells (MCT), and M2 macrophages (CD163). It was shown that despite the high number of immune cells in the intact thyroid tissues of PTC patients with coexisting HT there were no significant differences in M2 macrophages, mast cells and Treg counts inside PTC with or without HT. PTC with HT was associated with a higher number of CD8þ cells (P < 0.001) reflecting the ability of immune system to generate and recruit T-cytotoxic cells in tumor area, which can explain the protective effect of HT on PTC progression. Lymph node metastases development was associated with an increased number of mast cells, M2 macrophages and Treg along with a decreased plasma cells count regardless of coexisting HT. However, we did not find significant differences in T-cytotoxic cells quantity in node-positive and node-negative patients with or without HT, which encourages further investigation of immune escape mechanisms in PTC.

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