Gravendeel JMT, Asapa AS, Becx-Bleumink M, Vrakking HA. Preliminary results of an operational field study to compare side-effects, complaints and treatment results of a single-drug short-course regimen with a four-drug fixed-dose combination (4FDC) regimen in
SUMMARY Sixty slides from 60 blocks taken from 30 colonic carcinomas were circulated twice to six histopathologists of varying experience. Five of the six pathologists showed a good to excellent intraobserver agreement for assessment of the character of the invasive margin (0 44 < K < 082), which was not significantly affected by sampling (0 40 < K < 0 56, comparing both slides from each tumour) or observer (five of six pathologists agreeing on 46 of 60 slides). Pathologists were unreliable in assessing peritumoural lymphocytic infiltrates, with only two pathologists achieving moderate levels of intraobserver agreement (-0-03 < K < 0-52). The interobserver agreement for peritumoural lymphocytic infiltrates was also low (K < 0-29) between the three most experienced pathologists. The assessment of peritumoural lymphocytic infiltrates was significantly affected by sampling, the two pathologists with the lowest intraobserver variation achieving K values of 0-21 and 0 10 between the 30 paired slides from each tumour.The character of the invasive margin was reliably assessed, was not dependent on sample, and added useful prognostic information, but peritumoural lymphocytic infiltration is not a reproducible observation and may therefore not add useful prognostic information in routine use.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.