<SYSTEM_TASK:>
Solve the following problem using Python, implementing the functions described below, one line at a time
<END_TASK>
<USER_TASK:>
Description:
 def _latex_item_to_string(item, *, escape=False, as_content=False):
 """Use the render method when possible, otherwise uses str. Args ---- item: object An object that needs to be converted to a string escape: bool Flag that indicates if escaping is needed as_content: bool Indicates whether the item should be dumped using `~.LatexObject.dumps_as_content` Returns ------- NoEscape Latex """


    if isinstance(item, pylatex.base_classes.LatexObject):
        if as_content:
            return item.dumps_as_content()
        else:
            return item.dumps()
    elif not isinstance(item, str):
        item = str(item)

    if escape:
        item = escape_latex(item)

    return item