Bettien van Hemel

University of Groningen | RUG · Cancer Research Institute

Background: The Dutch population-based cervical cancer screening programme (PBS) consists of primary high-risk human papilloma virus (hrHPV) testing with cytology as triage test. In addition to cervical scraping by a general practitioner (GP), women are offered self-sampling to increase participation. Because cytological examination on self-sample...

Background: The rising demand for 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography with computed tomography (18F-FDG PET/CT) has led to an increase of thyroid incidentalomas. Current guidelines are restricted in giving options to tailor diagnostics and to suit the individual patient. Objectives: We aimed at exploring the extent of potential o...

DNA‐sensing receptor Cyclic GMP–AMP Synthase (cGAS) and its downstream signaling effector STimulator of INterferon Genes (STING) have gained significant interest in the field of tumor immunology, as a dysfunctional cGAS‐STING pathway is associated with poor prognosis and worse response to immunotherapy. However, studies so far have not taken into a...

Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is diagnosed using the histopathological Weiss score (WS), but remains clinically elusive unless it has metastasized or grows locally invasive. Previously, we proposed the objective IGF2 methylation score as diagnostic tool for ACC. This multicenter European cohort study validates these findings. Patient and tumor cha...

De pathologische diagnostiek van patiënten met verdenking op kanker is erop gericht om zo veel mogelijk informatie te verkrijgen uit cellen en weefsels om precieze diagnose te stellen en op basis daarvan een gerichte therapie te kunnen starten. De pathologische diagnostiek vormt onderdeel van het geheel van de medische probleemevaluatie met behulp...

Background: Endometrial sampling for the surveillance of women with Lynch syndrome is an invasive and painful procedure. The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of a less invasive procedure of collecting vital cells by vaginal tampons. Methods: This was a prospective feasibility study of women scheduled to undergo annual gynecologi...

Background: In January 2017, the Dutch cervical cancer screening programme transitioned from cytomorphological to primary high-risk HPV (hrHPV) DNA screening, including the introduction of self-sampling, for women aged between 30 and 60 years. The Netherlands was the first country to switch to hrHPV screening at the national level. We investigated...

Background: The diagnosis of tumors of soft tissue and bone (STB) heavily relies on histological biopsies, whereas cytology is not widely used. CellientTM cell blocks often contain small tissue fragments. In addition to Hematoxylin and Eosin (H&E) interpretation of histological features, immunohistochemistry (IHC) can be applied after optimization...

BRAF mutational testing has become a common practice in the diagnostic process of patients with advanced melanoma. Although time-consuming, DNA sequencing techniques are the current gold standard for mutational testing. However, in certain clinical situations, a rapid test result is required. In this study, the performance of three rapid BRAF mutat...

Introduction Global DNA hypomethylation is a major event for the development and progression of cancer, although the significance in thyroid cancer remains unclear. Therefore, we aimed to investigate its role in thyroid cancer progression and its potential as a prognostic marker. Methods Global hypomethylation of Alu repeats was used as a surrogat...

Background: Medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) comprises only 4% of all thyroid cancers and originates from the parafollicular C-cells. HIF-1α expression has been implied as an indicator of worse prognosis in various solid tumors. However, whether expression of HIF-1α is a prognosticator in MTC remained unclear. Our aim was to evaluate the prognostic...

The diagnostic performance of the widely-used Cervista HPV HR test was compared to the Hybrid Capture 2 (HC2) test in a Dutch population-based cervical cancer screening program. In 900 scrapings of women with normal cytomorphology, specificity was 90% (95%CI: 87.84-91.87) for the Cervista HPV HR test and 96% (95%CI: 94.76-97.37) for the HC2 test wi...

Background: Recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (RRP) is mainly associated with human papillomavirus (HPV)6 or HPV11. The purpose of this study was to compare clinical outcome, aggressiveness, and treatment response between HPV6- and HPV11-associated RRP. Methods: A retrospective cohort of 55 patients with RRP (1974-2012) was used. Surgical int...

We studied the feasibility of immunocytochemistry (ICC), in situ hybridization (ISH), and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) after Cellient(™) automated cell block processing, and tested whether methanol-based PreservCyt(™) fixation could replace formalin fixation, in an attempt to eliminate toxic formaldehyde vapors. Immunostaining with 30 different...

In this prospective study, for the first time, the authors compared the accuracy of reading urine specimens using the ThinPrep Imager System (TIS) with the accuracy of conventional screening for the detection of abnormal urine cells. ThinPrep slides were made from 1455 urine specimens and were read with conventional screening and with TIS. Findings...

Sinonasal carcinoma with neuroendocrine differentiation (SCND) is a rare group of tumors known for their aggressive behavior and poor response to treatment. The data in the literature are sparse and cover a wide range of therapeutic approaches over a protracted timeline. Therefore, it is important that institutions report on their experience with t...

The purpose of this study was to detect human papillomavirus (HPV) infection in laryngeal neuroendocrine carcinoma (LNEC) and to explore the possible relationship between HPV-induced malignant transformation and prognosis in LNEC. Ten cases of LNEC from a tertiary referral hospital were retrospectively analyzed. Clinical data were subtracted from p...

Recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (RRP) is a rare, benign, wart-like disease for which no curative treatment exists. The goal of treatment is total surgical removal of the epithelial lesions to keep the airway open and the voice sufficient. Therefore, it is essential to visualize all papillomatous lesions. The present study aims to evaluate the...

To explore the feasibility of DNA methylation analysis for the detection of cervical neoplasia in self-obtained cervico-vaginal lavages. Lavages collected by a self-sampling device and paired cervical scrapings were obtained from 20 cervical cancer patients and 23 patients referred with an abnormal cervical smear (15 with high-grade cervical intrae...

Fine-needle aspiration (FNA) is the most accurate tool to identify malignancy in solitary thyroid nodules. Although some recommend routinely repeating FNA for nodules that are initially read as benign, there is no consensus. We evaluated clinical relevancy and considered costs of routine follow-up FNA in nodules initially read as benign. We reviewe...

Currently, all patients with vulvar cancer with a positive sentinel node undergo inguinofemoral lymphadenectomy, irrespective of the size of sentinel-node metastases. Our study aimed to assess the association between size of sentinel-node metastasis and risk of metastases in non-sentinel nodes, and risk of disease-specific survival in early stage v...

EUS is a standard staging procedure in esophageal cancer. For adequate staging, FNA of suspicious lymph nodes is recommended. Based on optimal staging, sophisticated treatment can be applied more properly. The working channel of the endoscope can potentially be contaminated by cancer cells derived from the luminal surface of esophageal cancer durin...

Recently, we reported 13 possible cervical cancer-specific methylated biomarkers identified by pharmacologic unmasking microarray in combination with large-genome computational screening. The aim of the present study was to perform an in-depth analysis of the methylation patterns of these 13 candidate genes in cervical neoplasia and to determine th...

The aim of this quality controlling study was to determine the accuracy of liquid-based cytology (LBC) with the Turbitec® cytocentrifuge technique. Cervical smears of 632 women, who were referred to our CIN outpatient department, after at least two smears with ASCUS or higher were evaluated and compared with the histological outcome. In 592 cases t...

To assess the compliance of HSIL patients to the national Dutch routine follow-up protocol in the first 2 years after LLETZ and to determine if based on the status of excision margins, follow-up intervals could be modified. A prospective cohort study was performed in patients, referred because of an abnormal Pap smear between 1996 and 2004 and trea...

The interaction of platelets with fibrinogen is a key event in the maintenance of a haemostatic response. It has been shown that the 12-carboxy-terminal residues of the gamma-chain of fibrinogen mediate platelet adhesion to immobilized fibrinogen. These studies, however, did not exclude the possibility that other domains of fibrinogen are involved...

Fibrinogen is a plasma protein that interacts with integrin alphaIIb beta3 to mediate a variety of platelet responses including adhesion, aggregation, and clot retraction. Three sites on fibrinogen have been hypothesized to be critical for these interactions: the Ala-Gly-Asp-Val (AGDV) sequence at the C-terminus of the gamma chain and two Arg-Gly-A...

Fibrinogen is a plasma protein that interacts with integrin αIIbβ3 to mediate a variety of platelet responses including adhesion, aggregation, and clot retraction. Three sites on fibrinogen have been hypothesized to be critical for these interactions: the Ala-Gly-Asp-Val (AGDV) sequence at the C-terminus of the γ chain and two Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) seq...