Uterine sarcomas versus leiomyomas: gray-scale and Doppler sonographic findings.

PURPOSE: The aim of the study was to evaluate the contribution of gray-scale sonography and Doppler flow studies in differentiating between uterine sarcomas of different histologic types and leiomyomas. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study included 111 patients, divided retrospectively into 2 groups: 98 patients with leiomyomas and 13 with postoperative diagnosis of uterine sarcoma. This latter group was further divided into a group of 6 patients with uterine leiomyosarcoma and 7 with malignant mixed mesodermal tumor. The gray-scale sonograms and Doppler parameters in the 3 groups were compared. RESULTS: The patients with leiomyomas were younger than those with sarcomas (52 years +/- 11 versus 65 years +/- 15, p < 0.05). No differences were noted between the 3 groups regarding gravidity, parity, symptoms upon admission, or findings during physical examination. The sonographic appearances of the leiomyomas were similar to those of the leiomyosarcomas, but in 6/7 cases, they were different from those of the malignant mixed mesodermal tumors. There was a significant difference between the mean resistance index in arterioles of the leiomyomas (0.59 +/- 0.01) and that of the malignant mixed mesodermal tumors (0.41 +/- 0.06) (P < 0.001) but not between those of the leiomyomas and the leiomyosarcomas (0.49 +/- 0.18). CONCLUSIONS: Doppler flow studies may assist in differentiating between leiomyomas and malignant mixed mesodermal tumors but not between leiomyomas and leiomyosarcomas.

Combination of endometrial thickness and time since menopause in predicting endometrial cancer in women with postmenopausal bleeding.

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to assess the combination of endometrial thickness, as measured by transvaginal sonography, and time since menopause, in predicting the presence of endometrial cancer in women with postmenopausal bleeding. METHODS: The study group consisted of 95 women with postmenopausal bleeding who underwent sonographic measurement of endometrial thickness followed by endometrial biopsy. No patient had ever received hormone replacement therapy. RESULTS: The mean endometrial thickness was significantly lower in the absence of endometrial carcinoma (6.9 +/- 4.3 mm) than in its presence (13.5 +/- 7.7 mm) (p < 0.005). The incidence of endometrial carcinoma increased with increases in endometrial thickness and the number of years since menopause. No patient had carcinoma when the endometrium was less than 5 mm thick, but 18.5% did when the thickness exceeded 9 mm. The incidence of cancer was 2.6% in women who had undergone menopause less than 5 years earlier but was 21.4% in women who had undergone menopause more than 15 years prior. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that time since menopause and endometrial thickness were statistically significant predictors of endometrial carcinoma. CONCLUSIONS: Time since menopause and endometrial thickness together define cutoff points for the diagnostic biopsy of tissue samples for endometrial carcinoma; that is, within a particular time interval, sampling should not be performed if the thickness is below a given value. When using cutoff points of 6 mm of endometrial thickness for women experiencing menopause 5-15 years prior and 5 mm in those going through menopause 15 or more years prior, approximately 60% of invasive procedures may be avoided. In addition, models derived by multiple logistic regression can be used to calculate a patient's risk of cancer based on her age and endometrial thickness.

Detection of tumor circulating cells by cytokeratin-20 in the blood of patients with granulosa cell tumors.

OBJECTIVE: Cytokeratins (CKs) are constituents of the intermediate filaments of epithelial cells which are expressed in various combinations, depending on the epithelial type and the degree of differentiation. Using the reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) technique, we recently demonstrated that cytokeratin-20 (CK-20), the most recently discovered cytokeratin, is expressed in endometrial carcinoma tumors, in blood, and in lymph nodes with micrometastases of patients treated for endometrial carcinomas. However, CK-20 expression could not be demonstrated in the endometrium of patients with benign diseases, in peripheral blood, in lymph nodes of healthy subjects, or in normal blood cells. The aim of this study was to examine whether CK-20 expression in blood can be used as a biomarker for the detection of the dissemination of malignant cells in patients treated for granulosa cell tumors (GCTs). METHODS: In this study, we used RT-PCR to determine the expression of CK-20 in the following groups: (i) blood of patients (n = 14) treated for GCTs, (ii) GCT samples (n = 4); (iii) lymph nodes (n = 2) of patients treated for GCTs; (iv) blood from subjects with benign sex-cord-stromal tumors (n = 2); (v) normal ovaries of two menstruating women (n = 4); (vi) tumor specimens of epithelial ovarian carcinomas (EOCs) (n = 14); and (vii) blood samples (n = 18) and lymph nodes (n = 11) of healthy women. RESULTS: In Group I, CK-20 was positive in the blood in 86% (12/14) of the patients. In Group II, CK-20 was positive in 100% (4/4) of the GCT samples. In Group III, CK-20 was positive in 100% (2/2) of the lymph nodes examined. In Groups IV and V, CK-20 was negative in 100% (2/2) of the blood samples and in the normal ovarian specimens (4/4) that were examined. In Group VI, CK-20 was positive in 14% (2/14) of nonmucinous EOCs. In Group VII, CK-20 was negative in 100% (18/18) of blood and in (11/11) lymph node specimens (specificity 100%). CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that RT-PCR of CK-20, because of its high sensitivity and specificity, is a potential biomarker for detecting metastases in blood and in micrometastases in lymph nodes of patients treated for GCTs.

Papillary serous carcinoma of the peritoneum coexisting with or after endometrial carcinoma.

OBJECTIVE: Papillary serous carcinoma of the peritoneum (PSCP) coexisting with, or after, endometrial carcinoma (EC) is an extremely rare condition with no documented patient series. The aim of this investigation was to describe our experience in treating five patients diagnosed with PSCP synchronously with EC and two others who developed PSCP metachronously after EC. METHODS: In this retrospective study, we reviewed and analyzed the clinical and pathological data of seven patients diagnosed and managed over a 10-year period. The diagnosis of PSCP was mostly based on the inclusionary criteria of the Gynecologic Oncology Group [1]. Disease stages were determined using the FIGO criteria for epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) and endometrial carcinomas [2]. The treatment for PSCP was similar to that for advanced EOC and immunohistochemical studies were performed using archival material for PSCP and EC in order to determine p53, Bcl-2, HER2, and estrogen and progesterone receptor (ER, PR) status. Germline mutation analyses were performed for the two most common mutations pertaining to BRCA1 and the one most common mutation pertaining to BRCA2 genes only. RESULTS: Five patients with PSCP and synchronous EC initially underwent surgical treatment. The remaining two underwent surgery originally for EC and, thereafter, for metachronous PSCP. All seven patients had advanced stages (III or IV) of PSCP and stage I only EC. At the time of analysis, four patients were alive. p53, Bcl-2, ER, and PR were found to have been expressed in various rates in both or one of the neoplasms. However, no HER2 was found to have been expressed, either in PSCP or in EC. All germline mutation analyses were negative. CONCLUSIONS: The results obtained in this study show that PSCP can occur either synchronously or metachronously with lower stage EC that is associated with advanced disease stages. We suggest that this clinical form of PSCP with synchronous or metachronous EC is a very aggressive and lethal clinical form and differs markedly from the vast majority of multiple gynecologic neoplasms of the upper genital canal diagnosed in the ovarian-endometrial group, of which EOC are mostly diagnosed as stage I diseases with high-rate cures.