Endocervical gastric-type adenocarcinoma (GAS) when well-differentiated or with less mucin may lead to misdiagnosis, particularly in biopsy specimens. This study aimed to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of Claudin18.2 and MUC6 in the diagnosis of GAS and its precursor lesions. 167 cases from the Department of Pathology, Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital of Fudan University (OGHFU) were selected, including 43 cases of usual type endocervical adenocarcinoma (UEA), 43 cases of GAS, 20 lobular endocervical glandular hyperplasia (LEGH) cases, 21 atypical LEGH (ALEGH) cases, and 40 normal/benign cases. A panel of immunohistochemical stains (IHC) for Claudin18.2, MUC6, P53, and P16 were performed on all cases. IHC expression in >5 % tumor cells was considered positive for Claudin18.2 and MUC6. An IHC composite score was calculated by multiplying the individual scores of extents by intensity. P53 was considered positive/mutant with the presence of strong nuclear reactivity in ≥75 % of cells (overexpression), was completely negative (null expression), or showed cytoplasmic staining. P16 was considered positive if diffuse block-type staining. Claudin18.2 was positive in all cases of LEGH and ALEGH and 83.7 % (36/43) GAS cases but was negative in all UEA and benign cases. MUC6 was positive in all LEGH and ALEGH cases, 88.4 % (38/43) of GAS cases, as well as 40.0 % (16/40) of benign and 20.9 % (9/43) of UEA cases. P53 mutant expression was found in 62.8 % (27/43) of GAS cases, 10 of which showed P16 diffuse staining and 10 of which were completely negative for P16. The composite scores of both Claudin18.2 and MUC6 were higher in ALEGH/LEGH than in GAS. Claudin 18.2 is a sensitive and specific marker for cervical gastric-type glandular lesions, not expressed in normal cervical tissues but expressed in all of the LEGH/ALEGH cases. However, it was not helpful in differentiating GAS from ALEGH. MUC6 is a highly sensitive marker for LEGH and GAS, yet its specificity is much lower than that of Claudin18.2. Taking morphology as the cornerstone and combining immunomarkers such as P16, P53, Claudin18.2 and MUC6 can significantly enhance the diagnostic efficiency of gastric-type glandular lesions.

Background: Differentiated vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia (dVIN) is a non-human papilloma virus (HPV)-related high-grade precursor lesion to vulvar squamous cell carcinoma (vSCCa). Although TP53 gene mutations have been identified in 80% of dVIN, its role in dVIN pathogenesis as well as malignant transformation is still being poorly understood. Poor reproducible diagnostic criteria and ambiguous p53 immunostaining patterns, along with morphologic discordance still pose a diagnostic challenge. Methods: A series of 60 cases of dVIN-related vSCCa along with adjacent dVIN were evaluated. Clinicopathological features as well as immunohistochemical results were recorded on the resection-confirmed dVIN-related vSCCa. Results: The average age of the patients was 71 years. Thirty-five cases (58.4%) of dVIN-related vSCCa were moderately differentiated, fourteen cases (23.3%) were poorly differentiated, and the remaining eleven cases (18.3%) were well-differentiated. Twenty-nine cases (48.3%) were found to have lichen sclerosus adjacent to dVIN. In terms of p53 and p16 expression in dVIN-related vSCCa and the adjacent dVIN, fifty-five (91.7%) dVIN showed mutant p53 immunostaining pattern with strong positive expression in 80% cases (basal/para-basal expression) and null pattern expression in 11.7% cases. Five (8.3%) dVIN showed p53 wild-type staining pattern. The wild-type pattern were seen in 5% of vSCCa and p53 null pattern were seen in 13.3% vSCCa. Six cases demonstrated atypical staining patterns: two cases showed p53 null expression in dVIN but p53 overexpression in invasive carcinoma; three cases exhibited p53 null expression in invasive carcinoma, with the adjacent dVIN showing basal and para-basal mutant (2 cases) and wild-type (1 case) p53 expression patterns. A single case demonstrated p53 wild-type pattern in dVIN and overexpression in invasive carcinoma. In addition, 65% dVIN were p16 negative and 31.7% dVIN had patchy p16 staining. Conclusion: Clinical and prognostic value of the ambiguous/inconsistent patterns are uncertain and molecular studies are needed for further characterization.

Objectives: Next-generation sequencing (NGS) has the potential to identify genetic alterations that are actionable with targeted therapy. Our objective was to identify the impact of NGS testing on advanced breast and gynecologic malignancies. Methods: A retrospective review of 108 patients who underwent NGS testing between 2015 and 2019 was performed. The NGS clinical action rate was calculated based on documentation of positive clinical action taken in cases with an actionable NGS result. Results: The 108 specimens tested included 35 breast cancers and 73 gynecologic malignancies, with most of the testing performed at Foundation Medicine (90%). Actionable mutation(s) were identified in 79 (73%) of 108 cases. The overall clinical action rate of NGS testing was 38% (30 of 79 cases). Overall, 47 (44%) of 108 patients died, all succumbing to disease. The average survival was 10.9 months. The survival difference between patients with actionable NGS result and targeted treatment, actionable NGS result but no targeted treatment, and patients with nonactionable NGS result was not significant (log-rank test, P =.5160). Conclusions: NGS testing for advanced breast and gynecologic cancers at our institution has a 38% clinical action rate. However, the increased clinical action rate over the years did not translate into improved survival.

OBJECTIVES:Next-generation sequencing (NGS) has the potential to identify genetic alterations that are actionable with targeted therapy. Our objective was to identify the impact of NGS testing on advanced breast and gynecologic malignancies.METHODS:A retrospective review of 108 patients who underwent NGS testing between 2015 and 2019 was performed. The NGS clinical action rate was calculated based on documentation of positive clinical action taken in cases with an actionable NGS result.RESULTS:The 108 specimens tested included 35 breast cancers and 73 gynecologic malignancies, with most of the testing performed at Foundation Medicine (90%). Actionable mutation(s) were identified in 79 (73%) of 108 cases. The overall clinical action rate of NGS testing was 38% (30 of 79 cases). Overall, 47 (44%) of 108 patients died, all succumbing to disease. The average survival was 10.9 months. The survival difference between patients with actionable NGS result and targeted treatment, actionable NGS result but no targeted treatment, and patients with nonactionable NGS result was not significant (log-rank test, P = .5160).CONCLUSIONS:NGS testing for advanced breast and gynecologic cancers at our institution has a 38% clinical action rate. However, the increased clinical action rate over the years did not translate into improved survival.

The following fictional case is intended as a learning tool within the Pathology Competencies for Medical Education (PCME), a set of national standards for teaching pathology. These are divided into three basic competencies: Disease Mechanisms and Processes, Organ System Pathology, and Diagnostic Medicine and Therapeutic Pathology. For additional information, and a full list of learning objectives for all three competencies, see http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2374289517715040.1.

Background: The identification of genetic risk factors for chronic pancreatitis, such as PRSS1, CFTR and SPINK1, provides the opportunity to define key pathologic hallmarks and etiologic-specific changes. For example, pancreata from PRSS1 and CFTR patients exhibit progressive lipomatous atrophy without significant fibrosis. Considering the pathology of SPINK1-associated pancreatitis is ill-defined, we examined the pancreata of SPINK1 patients with chronic pancreatitis. Methods: Histologic sections after total pancreatectomy with islet autotransplantation and associated clinicopathologic data were collected from 28 patients with SPINK1 germline alterations. Clinical findings, germline data, anatomic anomalies and pathologic findings were descriptively evaluated. Results: Patients ranged in age from 5 to 48 years (median, 21.6 years) with abdominal pain between 2 and 25 years (median, 5.8 years). Most patients were SPINK1 heterozygous and 14 (50%) had co-occurring CFTR (n = 12) and CTRC (n = 2) mutations. Other pancreatitis risk factors included anatomic anomalies (n = 9) and tobacco use (n = 1). Overall, 24 (86%) patients had additional pancreatitis-associated germline alterations, SPINK1 homozygosity, anatomic anomalies or environmental factors. Examination of pancreata revealed a sequential pattern of exocrine parenchymal loss and replacement by prominent fibrosis, dependent on the duration of abdominal pain. No malignancies were identified, but low-grade pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia was present for 2 cases. Conclusions: Within this descriptive study, SPINK1-associated pancreatitis is characterized by parenchymal fibrosis and suggests divergent pathophysiologic mechanisms from PRSS1 and CFTR-associated pancreatitis. Moreover, SPINK1 patients frequently had additional etiologic factors that did not impact the development of pancreatic fibrosis and may implicate SPINK1 as a disease modifier gene. (C) 2020 IAP and EPC. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Introduction: Cervical screening has decreased the incidence of cervical carcinoma around the world primarily by preventing cervical squamous carcinoma, with significantly less measurable protective benefits in prevention of cervical adenocarcinoma. In this study, we apply Bayesian modeling of cervical clinical, screening, and biopsy data from a large integrated health system to explore the feasibility of calculating personalized risk assessments on screened system patients for subsequent histopathologic diagnoses of invasive cervical adenocarcinoma (AdCa) or cervical adenocarcinoma in situ (AIS). Materials and Methods: Diagnoses of cervical AIS or AdCa rendered between 2005 and 2018 were identified in our large health system database with 1,053,713 cytology results, 354,843 high-risk (hr) human papillomavirus (HPV) test results, and 99,012 cervical histopathologic results. Using our continuously updated Bayesian cervical cancer screening model which includes clinical data, cervical screening results, and cervical biopsy results, we projected quantitative estimates of patients’ 5-year cumulative risk for cervical AIS or AdCa. Results: 161 patients were identified with AIS (ages 17–75, mean 37 years), and 99 patients had diagnoses of cervical AdCa (ages 26–91, mean 48 years). Quantitative Bayesian 5-year cumulative risk projections for diagnoses of cervical AdCa or AIS in patients with different cervical screening test and biopsy histories were determined. The highest patient risk projections for subsequent cervical AdCa and/or AIS histopathologic diagnoses were associated with prior cervical screening test results of HPV-positive atypical glandular cells. Prior squamous cytologic abnormalities were associated with lower risk estimates. Prior histopathologic diagnoses of squamous abnormalities also influenced quantitative risk. A prior histopathologic diagnosis of AIS was associated with a very low risk of subsequent AdCa, consistent with effective excisional treatment. AdCa risk was greatest in women aged 30–65 years with prior CIN3 biopsy results, whereas AIS risk was greatest in women <30. Conclusion: Prevention of cervical AdCa in screened patients remains a major challenge for cervical screening. Individualized risk projections for cervical glandular neoplasia reflecting patient age, prior cervical screening test results, and prior cervical biopsy history are feasible using Bayesian modeling of health system data.

Aims: MRI is an imaging modality used for a wide range of clinical indications. Occasionally, non-specific, diffuse T1 marrow signal alterations are identified, which may prompt a bone marrow biopsy (BM). However, there is little data on the clinicopathologic significance of this signal alteration. This study evaluated the frequency and nature of pathologic findings in BM performed to evaluate diffuse MRI T1 marrow signal alterations. Methods: Records from January 2003 to May 2015 were searched for BM performed to evaluate abnormal MRIs. 179 cases were identified. Patients with nodular/destructive bone lesions on MRI or other imaging studies, or a previous diagnosed metastatic tumor or hematologic malignancy were excluded, resulting in 45 cases. Results: The patients included 22 males and 23 females with a median age of 56 years. The location of the MRI T1 marrow signal alterations included spine, pelvis, knee, skull, femur, and arm. 19/45 patients had neoplasms identified in the BM. The remaining 26 patients had benign BM findings. There was a significant difference in hemoglobin values in patients with neoplastic versus benign BM findings (p = 0.037, unpaired Student's t-test). Conclusions: Diffuse T1 marrow signal alterations on MRI should warrant a BM evaluation, as 42% of cases showed an underlying hematolymphoid neoplasm or metastatic tumor, even when patients with a known history of malignancy were excluded. When faced with a BM from a patient with a non-specific, diffuse MRI signal alteration, a pathologist should have a high index of suspicion for a malignant neoplasm, most often of hematopoietic/lymphoid type.

Uterine carcinosarcomas (UCS) are rare and highly aggressive tumors. Although it is currently accepted that the majority of UCS are metaplastic carcinomas, their aggressive behavior is unparalleled to that of any other high-grade endometrial neoplasms. Therefore, the search for the distinct immunohistochemical and molecular features that could help in the development of new treatment strategies continues. We evaluated the expression of PDL-1, growth hormone releasing hormone receptor, p53, WT1, PAX-8, estrogen receptor, HNF-1, and mismatch repair proteins in 43 UCS. Tumors were selected from the archives of the Magee-Womens Hospital University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Department of Pathology. Seventeen were stage I, 4 were stage II, 15 were stage III, and 7 were stage IV. The median age was 67yr and median overall survival was 3.2yr. Immunostaining for PAX8, HNF-1, and estrogen receptor showed statistically significant difference between epithelial and stromal components. Expression of p53 was significantly associated with clinical high stage, but other markers did not correlate with stage or survival. Immunostaining for programmed death ligand-1 was strongly positive in 30 UCS (70%), including 24 cases with tumor cell positivity, 12 cases with tumor cell and tumor-infiltrating immune cell positivity, and 6 cases with tumor-infiltrating immune cell positivity only. Of 27 tumors tested for mismatch repair expression, 12 (44%) showed loss of expression, 7 of which were PDL-1 positive. Growth hormone releasing hormone receptor was positive in 38 tumors (88%) and predominantly expressed in the epithelial component. The range of positivity for programmed death ligand-1 and growth hormone releasing hormone receptor suggests a possible potential adjuvant treatment that may be considered for UCS.

The American Society of Clinical Oncology/College of American Pathologists (ASCO/CAP) guidelines recommend reporting of hormone receptor test results in a semiquantitative manner. This study used 74 resected estrogen receptor (ER)-positive invasive breast cancers to determine reproducibility of semiquantitative scoring of hormone receptors using the H-score method. Four pathologists independently scored each slide. Agreement among observers was analyzed via Fleiss κ statistics on ER and progesterone receptor (PR) categorical scores. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to estimate the interobserver agreement for ER and PR H-scores on a continuous scale (0-300). There was 100% agreement for categorical ER results (κ = 1) and 97% agreement (κ = 0.823, P < .001) for categorical PR results. For quantitative H-scores, ICC agreement was 0.85 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.79-0.90) for ER and 0.87 (95% CI = 0.82-0.92) for PR. Because the H-score provides a continuous measure of tumor hormone receptor content, we suggest universal adoption of this method.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the most effective time period for off-line (OL) adaptive planning (ADP) for Intensity Modulated Proton Therapy (IMPT) with Multi-Field Optimization (MFO) for bilateral Head and Neck (H&N) Malignancies. Six bilateral H&N cases treated with IMPT-MFO were scanned weekly during treatment and verification (VFRN) plans were calculated on each weekly CT. Five to six verification plans were then sent to a deformable registration software where the VRFN doses were deformed from the weekly CT to the original planning CT (VRFN). The weekly VRFN doses were summated and compared to the original TP (Day_0). We evaluated the most effective time period of OL ADP by evaluating the weekly CTV coverage, CTV maximum dose, parotid mean dose, anatomical changes, and other critical structure doses. ADP occurred for 3 out of the 6 cases and were treated clinically, one at week 2 and two at week 4. For evaluation purposes, ADP occurred on week 2-5 CTs for one case and the results were evaluated. The CTV1 V100%, contralateral parotid mean dose, and brainstem VRFN accumulated dose results were statistically different (p-values < 0.05) than the Day 0 results. The mean weight loss was 10.6 lbs at week 4 and the mean coverage for CTV1 and CTV2 fell below the 95% tolerance and the contralateral parotid mean dose rose above the tolerance of 26 Gy. The two patients with week 4 ADP lost 28 and 21 lbs and the contralateral parotid mean doses was 34.5 to 21.5 and 29.1 and 22.7 Gy, without and with ADP, respectively. The patient with week 2 ADP lost 11.4 lbs and the contralateral parotid mean dose was 27.0 and 26.2 Gy, without and with ADP, respectively. The accumulative dose differences between VRFN sum with ADP and the Day_0 plan for all evaluated parameters was the best for week 4 by a factor of 2.4, 2.6, 2.3, and 1.9 for no ADP, week 2 ADP, week 3 ADP, and week 5 ADP, respectively. An adaptive plan on the week 4 CT to be implemented in week 5 with approximately 10 fractions out of 33 fractions, is recommended, especially if the patient loses 10 pounds or 5% body weight or more by week 4. An off-line adaptive plan at this time most effectively maintains CTV coverage, normal tissue sparing and dose conformality similar to that of the Day_0 plan.