Patients with negative cervical biopsies after papanicolaou test interpretations of "atypical squamous cells, cannot exclude high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion": comparative longitudinal follow-up

Clinical Relevance of ASC-H Cytologies: Experience in a Single Tertiary Hospital

OBJECTIVES

To review the cases of atypical squamous cells (ASC), cannot exclude squamous intraepithelial lesion (ASC-H) diagnosed at a single institution and to discuss the interpretation challenges and clinical management of these cases.

STUDY DESIGN

The ASC-H cases diagnosed at our institution from 2006 to 2015 were studied retrospectively; of 159,000 Pap smears, there were 959 cases of ASC of undetermined significance (ASC-US) and 148 cases of ASC-H. We have reviewed the clinical records of the ASC-H cases, and data have been analyzed using SPSS 20.0.

RESULTS

Median age was 43.1 years; 49.6% of the patients had previous cervical cytologies, and 55.9% of them were negative. Following ASC-H diagnosis, another smear was obtained in 97.1% of the cases and in 67.6% a biopsy was performed. Biopsy revealed low-grade dysplasia in 18.8% of the cases, high-grade dysplasia in 27.8%, and infiltrating carcinoma in 2.3%. Patients with significant lesions in histology were younger than patients with negative results (p = 0.08). A diagnosis of ASC-H/squamous intraepithelial lesion in the repeated cytology had a sensitivity of 74.2%, specificity of 39.6%, positive predictive value of 44.8%, and negative predictive value of 70% for the diagnosis of dysplasia.

CONCLUSIONS

ASC-H diagnosis is associated with a high incidence of histological high-grade lesions. A repeat cytology can aid in the selection of high-risk patients, but there may be false-negative results.

Transformation of the genital epithelial tract occurs early in California sea lion development

An unusually high prevalence of metastatic urogenital carcinoma has been observed in free-ranging California sea lions stranded off the coast of California in the past two decades. No cases have been reported for sea lions in the relatively unpolluted Gulf of California. We investigated occurrence of genital epithelial transformation in 60 sea lions (n=57 pups and 3 adult females) from the Gulf of California and examined whether infection by a viral pathogen previously found to be associated with urogenital carcinoma accounted for such alterations. We also explored the contribution of MHC class II gene expression on transformation. Cellular alterations, such as squamous cell atypia (ASC), atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASCUS) and low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions were observed in 42% of the pups and in 67% of the adult females. Normal genital epithelium was more common in male than female pups. ASC was five times more likely to occur in older pups. Epithelial alterations were unrelated to infection by the potentially oncogenic otarine type I gammaherpesvirus (OtHV-1), but ASCUS was more common in pups with marked and severe inflammation. Expression of MHC class II DRB loci (Zaca DRB-D) by peripheral antigen-presenting leucocytes showed a slightly 'protective' effect for ASC. We propose that transformation of the California sea lion genital epithelium is relatively common in young animals, increases with age and is probably the result of infection by an unidentified pathogen. Expression of a specific MHC class II gene, suggestive of presentation of specific antigenic peptides to immune effectors, appears to lower the risk of transformation. Our study provides the first evidence that epithelial transformation of the California sea lion genital tract is relatively common, even from an early age, and raises questions regarding differences in sea lion cancer-detection and -repair success between geographical regions.

Cervical cytology of atypical squamous cells cannot exclude high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (ASC-H): histological results and recurrence after a loop electrosurgical excision procedure

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate the histology of the loop electrosurgical excision procedure (LEEP) surgical tissues of patients with ASC-H and post-LEEP recurrence.

METHODS

Medical records of patients with ASC-H treated with LEEP between January 2004 and March 2008 in the town of União da Vitória, Paraná, seat of the Sixth Public Health Region of Paraná (CISVALI), were evaluated. The LEEP was carried out solely for ASC-H immediately after colposcopy, but without a histological diagnosis.

RESULTS

Most patients were less than 40 years old (71.1%), with the largest group 20-39 years old (p < 0.0001). Twenty-eight patients (73.3%) showed histological lesions. Cervical intraepithelial neoplasias (CIN) I was present in 7 (18.4%), CIN II and CIN III in 9 (23.7%) each, microinvasive squamous cell carcinoma (SCMCA) in 2 (5.3%), and SCMCA plus in situ adenocarcinoma in 1 (2.2%). In 32 patients (84.2%), there was no involvement of the margins, including 100% with no dysplasia histology and CIN I, 80.0% of those with CIN II, and 88.9% of those with CIN III. Two patients (5.3%) had endocervical involvement, all of them with CIN II. Four patients (10.5%) had ectocervical and endocervical involvement, one of them with CIN III, and three of them with carcinomas. All patients with follow-up (+) were ASC-US, with no patients with dysplasia or CIN I.

CONCLUSIONS

A very high portion of the women with ASC-H had lesions on post-LEEP histological examination, principally CIN II and III. These data show the benefits of treatment for ASC-H by LEEP immediately after colposcopy but without any previous histology.