Independent prognostic value of peritoneal immunocytodiagnosis in endometrial carcinoma

Myofibroma of the stomach: a case report

Myofibroma of the stomach is rare and there has been only one reported case in previous Chinese literature. Here we report a case of myofibroma of the stomach in a 43-year-old female patient who presented to our hospital with repeated melena. Gastroscopy revealed an ulcerated tumor in the stomach. CT showed a hyperdense soft-tissue mass. The patient received distal subtotal gastrectomy. Postoperative pathologic and immunohistochemical examinations confirmed the initial diagnosis of myofibroma. The patient recovered well postoperatively.

Challenges in the interpretation of peritoneal cytologic specimens

CONTEXT

The presence of malignant cells in peritoneal washings leads to classification as International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stage IC or higher in ovarian carcinomas and at least International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stage IIIA in endometrial carcinomas. Unfortunately, the morphologic examination of cytologic specimens has not proven to be a sensitive or specific diagnostic tool. Malignant cells might be few in number and might be unrecognized among a large population of mesothelial cells and/or macrophages, or reactive mesothelial cells might be misinterpreted as neoplastic cells leading to unnecessary chemotherapy.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the main pitfalls in the evaluation of peritoneal washings in patients with gynecologic malignancies and analyze the ancillary studies that might be helpful to achieve the correct diagnosis with an emphasis on immunocytochemistry.

DATA SOURCES

A comprehensive review of the literature was performed.

CONCLUSIONS

Peritoneal effusions may represent major challenges to the pathologist and can have important clinical implications. Immunostains for epithelial markers such as B72.3, MOC-31, and Ber-EP4 represent the best available markers to identify epithelial cells. Caution is advised to not overdiagnose endometriosis or endosalpingiosis as adenocarcinoma.

Utility and limitations of abdominal radiotherapy in the management of endometrial carcinomas

OBJECTIVE

The present review analyzes long-term survival, recurrence sites, and toxicity in women with peritoneal spread of endometrial treated with abdominal radiotherapy, in order to provide therapeutic options as a function of disease spread and histology.

METHODS

Retrospective medical record review was performed of 86 patients receiving abdominal radiotherapy for endometrial carcinomas from 1975 to 1995 at the University of Minnesota.

RESULTS

FIGO stage distribution was 54 stage IIIA, 2 stage IIIB, 11 stage IIIC, and 19 stage IVB. Disease-free survivals were 55% at 5 years, 46% at 10 years, and 36% at 20 years. Recurrence rates were 16% for stage IIIA with one peritoneal site, 48% for stage IIIA with multiple peritoneal sites or stage IIIB or stage IIIC, and 72% for stage IVB. With univariate analysis, statistical significance was found for stage, gross peritoneal disease, nodal metastases, histology, concurrent chemotherapy, isolated adnexal spread, grade, angiolymphatic invasion, myometrial invasion, and age. Multivariate analysis found only stage, histology, and age to be significant. Most recurrences were pulmonary or peritoneal. Acute toxicity was acceptable. Six percent of patients required surgical intervention for small bowel obstructions.

CONCLUSIONS

Abdominal radiotherapy confers an excellent prognosis for women with stage IIIA cancers with one site of peritoneal involvement. Lack of randomized trials makes definitive treatment recommendations difficult to provide. Results are less optimal with multiple peritoneal sites of involvement, gross peritoneal spread, or papillary serous/clear cell pathology but a substantial number of such women can be cured as well.

Immunohistochemical analysis of gynecologic tumors

Ancillary techniques such as immunohistochemistry (IHC) enable the surgical pathologist to extract additional information from fixed, deparaffinized tissue specimens and to provide data critical to optimal clinical management of the patient. In this review of applications of IHC to the analysis of gynecologic malignancies, the usefulness of immunohistochemical analysis of neoplasms of the cervix, endometrium, and ovary is summarized. In the uterine cervix, dysplasia is associated with qualitative and quantitative alterations in the expression of the Ki-67 antigen expression, as well as an ability to detect human papillomavirus. Endometrial endometrioid adenocarcinomas display a highly characteristic immunophenotype, with coexpression of cytokeratin and vimentin and demonstration of foci of high molecular weight cytokeratin expression; in addition, IHC analysis of estrogen and progesterone receptor and p53 expression can provide important prognostic information about this tumor. Stromal tumors of the endometrium may display a partial smooth muscle immunophenotype, but novel markers such as CD10 provide new tools for the identification of these tumors. The immunophenotypes of the normal ovarian surface epithelium (OSE) and corresponding tumors display significant overlap with, but important distinctions from, mesothelium, and important new markers such as the Wilms tumor gene product can prove useful in the identification of carcinomas of the OSE. Important prognostic markers for carcinomas of the OSE include the HER-2/neu gene product and p53, alterations of which can both be assessed by IHC techniques. Finally, the recent availability of markers of ovarian stroma, including Melan-A and inhibin-alpha, has provided a means for the positive identification of ovarian stromal tumors, which can manifest protean histological appearances.