Symposium and Seminar on ‘Breast Pathology and Updates in Endocrine Pathology’
Aligarh : Interactive sessions and engaging discussions on advances in breast cancer research and various aspects of endocrine disorders marked the inaugural function of the two-day Symposium and Slide Seminar on ‘Breast Pathology and Updates in Endocrine Pathology’ that began on November 16, Wednesday at the Department of Pathology, Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College (JNMC), Aligarh Muslim University (AMU).
“Breast Pathology is a challenging area involved in diagnostic surgical pathology and pathologists play a key role in the multidisciplinary care team of patients with endocrine diseases”, said AMU Vice Chancellor, Prof Tariq Mansoor.
Attending the inaugural function as the Chief Guest, he stressed: “In times to come, endocrine pathology will demand an in-depth understanding of structure, function, prognosis and prediction and it is anticipated that new technologies will allow increased sub specialization in pathology and growth of this important area of expertise”.
“Pathology is the basis of all clinical medicine as pathologists not only determine what a disease is, but why that disease occurred, how the tissues may have been damaged, and what functional changes took place. The branches of pathology and radiology also play a very significant role in the rankings of medical colleges”, said Prof Mansoor.
He pressed for continuous upgradation of the Departments of Pathology and Radiology with addition of super specialty branches, inter-departmental lectures and regular clinical meetings.
The resource person, Prof Ashraf Khan (Department of Pathology, UMASS Chan Medical School, Baystate, Springfield MA, USA and Adjunct Faculty, Department of Pathology, JNMC) provided updates on Predictive Biomarkers in Breast Cancer and Adrenals.
He spoke about challenges in the assessment of the main breast cancer-specific molecular predictive markers such as hormone receptors, progesterone receptors and human epidermal growth factor receptors among others.
Prof Nuzhat Husain (Head, Department of Pathology, Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow) who also attended the programme as the resource person gave World Health Organisation (WHO) updates on Pituitary problems.
“The new WHO Classification of Tumors of Endocrine Organs, includes innovations in both terminology and diagnostic guidelines for pituitary adenomas, along with new entities, molecular information, and novel treatment modalities”, she said.
Prof M U Rabbani (Dean, Faculty of Medicine) emphasised: “The job of a pathologist as a diagnostic oncologist encompasses the entire spectrum or continuum of cancer care from prevention and screening to diagnosis, prognosis, and prediction of therapeutic response disease monitoring.
“This symposium will be very beneficial for the academically oriented pathologists and researchers who strive to integrate anatomically based histopathology with evolving knowledge derived from cellular and molecular biology”, said Prof Rakesh Bhargava (Principal, JNMC).
Prof Mahboob Hasan (Organising Chairman of the programme) said: “We have worked tirelessly to present the participants with an opportunity to come across the cutting-edge work being done in the fields of endocrine and breast pathologies in this programme.
Delivering the welcome address, Prof S H Arif (Organising Secretary) delineated roles of clinical and anatomic pathologists and the increasing subspecialties in the field.
Prof Veena Maheshwari (Organising Secretary) extended the vote of thanks.
Dr Bushra Siddiqui (Joint Organising Secretary) and Dr Asfa Shams conducted the programme.