Solid Cancers 2 —
Training activity: 3

Details

Perform morphological assessment of cellularity and neoplastic cell content for any of the following:

• Colorectal
• Melanoma
• Lung
• Ovarian
• Breast
• CNS
• Sarcoma

Type

Developmental training activity (DTA)

Evidence requirements

Evidence the activity has been undertaken by the trainee​.

Reflection on the activity at one or more time points after the event including learning from the activity and/or areas of the trainees practice for development.

An action plan to implement learning and/or to address skills or knowledge gaps identified.

Reflective practice guidance

The guidance below is provided to support reflection at different time points, providing you with questions to aid you to reflect for this training activity. They are provided for guidance and should not be considered as a mandatory checklist. Trainees should not be expected to provide answers to each of the guidance questions listed.

Before action

• Consider your current understanding of cellularity and neoplastic cell content assessment in the chosen cancer types. What specific histological features are you expecting to identify for these tumour types?
• What staining techniques are typically used in morphological assessment, and why?
• Are you familiar with the criteria for determining adequate cellularity and neoplastic cell content for molecular testing?
• What challenges do you anticipate in accurately assessing cellularity and neoplastic cell content for the chosen samples?
• Review relevant protocols and guidelines for morphological assessment of the selected tumour types.
• Consider any potential difficulties you might encounter in assessing specific sample types and how you might approach them.

In action

• Pay attention to your actions. How are you approaching the assessment of cellularity and neoplastic cell content? Why are you examining specific areas of the sample in a particular way? What criteria are you using to distinguish neoplastic cells? What decisions are you making about the percentage of cellularity and neoplastic content as you proceed? What aspects of the morphological assessment feel intuitive, and what requires more conscious effort?
• How effective are your techniques for identifying and quantifying cellularity and neoplastic content? What challenges are you facing during this assessment? Are there any ambiguities in the morphology? What can you learn about morphological assessment as you perform it? How does this activity connect to your existing knowledge of solid tumour histology?
• Are there alternative approaches you could be considering for assessing difficult areas of the sample? Do you need to seek support or guidance at this moment? Are you working within your understanding of best practice for morphological assessment?

On action

• What did you notice during the morphological assessment of cellularity and neoplastic cell content for the two cancer types you selected? Begin by summarising the key observations and any challenges encountered.
• What specific skills or knowledge related to morphological assessment of these tumour types did you develop or improve? Were there any unexpected challenges or successes? What did you learn from these?
• What areas for continued development in morphological assessment have been identified as a result of this activity? How can you apply the learning from this activity to your routine practice?

Beyond action

• Have you revisited your reflections on performing morphological assessments for these solid cancers? How does your understanding of cellularity and neoplastic content in these tumour types compare now to when you first completed the activity?
• What learning or actions can you now identify that you might not have recognised immediately after the activity? How have subsequent similar experiences since impacted your current practice in handling and assessing solid tumour samples?

Relevant learning outcomes

#	Outcome
# 2	Outcome Analyse, interpret and prepare interpretive reports of clinically relevant findings for patients with central nervous system (CNS), sarcoma tumours, and somatic and germline variants in ovarian and breast cancer.