Yanmei Zhu

The past, present, and future of FIGO staging of endometrial cancer

The International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) staging of endometrial cancer (EC) is regarded as a crucial tool for guiding treatment, evaluating prognosis, and advancing clinical research. It is a concept of shared importance among gynecologic oncologists, pathologists, and patients with EC. In June 2023, the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics released a new staging system for EC. This review aims to discuss comprehensively the developmental trajectory of FIGO staging for EC, focusing on the differences between the 2023 FIGO and earlier staging systems, and delineating the advantages and disadvantages of incorporating various pathological factors and molecular subtypes into staging. The article emphasizes the progress made with the updated 2023 FIGO version in improving prognostic prediction accuracy for patients with EC. However, as the staging categories expand, their complexity becomes increasingly apparent, potentially impacting health care professionals' accurate understanding and application of staging. Moreover, unresolved issues persist regarding histological types and grading, lymphovascular space invasion, and molecular subtypes, as well as distinguishing between low-grade endometrioid carcinomas confined to the uterus and ovaries, which may affect the personalized management of patients with EC. In the future, these issues still require extensive clinical research and specific data for validation or confirmation, presenting a challenge shared by gynecologic oncologists and pathologists.

Molecular subtypes and quantitative analysis of PD-L1 and tumor-associated immune cells in uterine carcinosarcoma

In the present study, molecular subtypes were determined, programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) and tumor-associated immune cells (TAICs) were quantitatively detected, and their effect on prognosis in uterine carcinosarcoma (UCS) was analyzed. The study included 65 UCS cases. Direct sequencing of POLE exonuclease domain and immunohistochemistry of mismatch repair (MMR) deficiency proteins and p53 were used to stratify molecular subtypes. QuPath was used for quantitative immunohistochemical detection of PD-L1 and TAICs. The chi square test was used to determine the association between molecular subtypes and expression of PD-L1 and TAICs. The Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional hazards regression were used for plotting and survival analysis. In 65 UCS cases, 1 case (1.5%) was POLE ultramutated (POLEmut) subtype, 11 cases (16.9%) were deficient MMR (dMMR) subtype, 32 cases (49.3%) were p53 mutant (p53mut) subtype, and 21 cases (32.3%) were nonspecific molecular profile (NSMP) subtype. The positive density of PD-L1 in tumor (p=0.022), CD8 in stroma (p=0.036), and CD163 in stroma (p=0.025) were significantly associated with molecular subtypes. The patients with POLEmut and dMMR subtypes had a relatively better prognosis trend than patients with NSMP and p53mut subtypes. The patients with high positive density of PD-L1 in tumor had significantly better prognosis; however, high positive density of CD163 in stroma showed significantly worse prognosis. UCS could be classified into four molecular subtypes associated with prognosis. PD-L1 and M2 macrophages could effectively predict the prognosis of patients with UCS.

Adenomatoid tumors of ovary mimicking malignancy: report of 2 cases and literature review

Abstract Background Adenomatoid tumors (ATs) are benign tumors originating from the mesothelium. ATs of the ovary are rare, and can easily be confused with malignancy due to the histomorphological diversity. Thus, it is difficult in histopathological and differential diagnosis, especially during intraoperative frozen pathological diagnosis, which directly affects the resection scope of surgery. Case presentation In this study, we reported two patients (58 and 41 year old) with ovarian ATs. AT of patient 1 occurred in both ovaries at different time points and she had been diagnosed with Hashimoto's thyroiditis. AT of patient 2 occurred in right ovary. Intraoperative frozen pathological diagnosis was performed in both cases and laparoscopic salpingo-oophorectomy was undergone on the lesion side according to benign freezing diagnostic result. Ovarian ATs, the final diagnoses of the 2 cases were concluded after histological, extensive immunohistochemical (IHC), histochemical, and fluorescence in situ hybridization analyses. Conclusions Our results show that ovarian ATs may not be related to BAP1 or CDKN2A/p16 mutations. In addition, the case 1 suggests that ATs may be associated with immune dysregulation. When encountering such similar lessions, we recommend that a series of immunohistochemical, histochemical and molecular biological techniques should be used for diagnosis and differential diagnosis to avoid misdiagnosis. Improving understanding of the rare ovarian ATs which mimic malignancy is necessary to prevent overresection.