Histological Follow-Up in Patients with Atypical Glandular Cells on Pap Smears

Clinical significance of atypical glandular cells on cytology: 10 years' experience of a colposcopic referral center

INTRODUCTION

'Atypical glandular cells' (AGC) is an uncommon cytological result of cervical Pap smears which includes a wide of histopathological diagnoses, from benign to premalignant and malignant cervical disorders, endometrial cancer and, occasionally, other genital malignancies. This study aims to provide a comprehensive overview of AGC, assessing risk factors and clinical and histological features in affected patients.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A retrospective analysis was conducted on a cohort of 239 women diagnosed with AGC between 2012 and 2022 at the 'Regional Referral Center for Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of HPV-related Genital Disorders', Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy. Following AGC detection, patients underwent colposcopy with endocervical sampling and endometrial assessment via pelvic ultrasound. Selective cases also received endometrial biopsies.

RESULTS

Among a total of 190 women who underwent both colposcopy and endometrial assessment, 116 (61%) had negative clinical and histopathological findings. The remainder displayed various abnormalities: 36 women (18.9%) were found to have endometrial or cervical polyps, 23 (12.1%) were diagnosed with preinvasive cervical neoplasia, and 21 (10.9%) with invasive cervical or endometrial disease. Menopause, multiparity, and older age were all significantly associated with endometrial cancer, but none of the abovementioned variables were significantly associated with cervical neoplasia.

CONCLUSION

Our data confirm that AGC may reveal the presence of a wide range of histopathological conditions. Patients diagnosed with AGC should undergo a careful evaluation including both colposcopy with endocervical sampling and an endometrial assessment.

Atypical glandular cells and predictive features of malignancy in Pap smears: A retrospective monocentric study

OBJECTIVE

The introduction of cytological screening with the Papanicolau smear significantly reduced cervical cancer mortality. However, Pap smear examination can be challenging, being based on the observer ability to decode different cytological and architectural features. This study aims to evaluate the malignancy rate of AGC (atypical glandular cells) category, investigating the relationships between cytological and histological diagnosis.

METHODS

Eighty-nine patients, diagnosed as AGC at cytological evaluation and followed up with biopsy or surgical procedure at Policlinico Gemelli Hospital, Rome, Italy, were included in the study. The cytopathological architectural (feathering, rosette formation, overlapping, loss of polarity, papillary formation, three-dimensional formation) and nuclear (N/C ratio, nuclear enlargement and hyperchromasia, mitoses, nuclei irregularity, evident nucleoli) features of AGC were evaluated. Statistical analyses were performed to assess cyto-histological correlation and determine the relevance of architectural and nuclear features in the diagnosis of malignancy.

RESULTS

Of the 89 AGC patients, 48 cases (53.93%) were diagnosed as AGC-NOS and 41 (46.07%) were diagnosed as AGC-FN, according to the Bethesda classification system. The follow-up biopsies or surgical resections revealed malignancy in 46 patients (51.69%). The rates of malignancy for AGC-NOS and AGC-FN were 35.41% and 70.73% respectively. Furthermore, analysing cytopathological features, we found that both architectural and nuclear criteria were statistically significant (p < 0.05). Only overlapping, nuclear irregularity and increased N/C ratio were not found to be statistically significant for detecting malignancy.

CONCLUSIONS

Cytological diagnosis of glandular lesions remains a valid tool, when appropriate clinical correlation and expert evaluation are available.

Cytology-histology correlation of atypical glandular cells on cervical Papanicolaou tests: A study of 628 cases

INTRODUCTION

The finding of atypical glandular cells (AGC) on Papanicolaou test is becoming more important as the incidence of squamous intraepithelial lesions decreases in recent decades. Therefore, the interpretation and follow-up of patients with AGC are particularly important. The aim of our study was to assess the histologic findings and clinical correlations in patients with AGC identified on Papanicolaou test.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A total of 714 patients with AGC identified on cervical Papanicolaou tests were studied for their clinicopathologic features, such as follow-up histology and patient age. We investigated the histologic follow-up results for each individual subcategories of AGC and their correlation with patients' age.

RESULTS

Most of the glandular cell abnormalities (80.0%) in the study group were classified as "atypical glandular cells, not otherwise specified (NOS)". About 28.9% of patients' follow-up histology showed malignant or precancerous lesions. The mean age of patients with malignant or precancerous lesions was significantly higher than that of patients with benign or non-precancerous lesions. The malignant histologies included 52 cases of endometrial cancers and 31 cases of cervical carcinomas. The second most common subcategory was "atypical glandular cells, favor neoplastic" (5.0%), while "atypical endocervical cells, favor neoplastic" constituted about 2.7% of cases in our study. The average age of patients with "atypical glandular cells, favor neoplastic" was significantly higher than that of patients with "atypical endocervical cells, favor neoplastic". The follow-up histology of about 82.1% of "atypical glandular cells, favor neoplastic" showed endometrial (73.9%) or cervical malignancies (26.1%). The follow-up histology of about 70.6% of "atypical endocervical cells, favor neoplastic" showed endometrial (50.0%) or cervical cancers (50.0%). Other glandular abnormalities included 25 of 714 cases of "atypical endometrial cells" (3.5%) and 6 of 714 cases of "atypical endocervical cells" (0.8%).

CONCLUSION

Based on our data, we have observed significantly more endometrial malignancies in both "atypical glandular cells, NOS" and "atypical glandular cells, favor neoplastic" subcategories and even some in "atypical endocervical cells, favor neoplastic" category. This predominance of endometrial malignancies is also associated with patients' age and tumor types.

P16/Ki67 Dual Staining in Glandular Cell Abnormalities of the Uterine Cervix

Very limited information exists about the role of p16/Ki67 dual staining on glandular cells in detecting glandular precancerous lesions and cervical adenocarcinoma. In this study, we investigated the diagnostic accuracy of p16/Ki67 dual staining for the detection of glandular and squamous lesions on the uterine cervix and for cancer of the upper reproductive tract. We performed a retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data on 96 patients with glandular cell abnormalities. We analyzed the diagnostic accuracy of p16/Ki67 dual staining for atypical glandular cells, not otherwise specified (AGC-NOS); atypical glandular cells, favor neoplastic (AGC-FN); adenocarcinoma in situ (AIS); and A-CA (cervical adenocarcinoma). A separate analysis for the detection of squamous precancerous lesions and squamous-cell carcinoma (CIN3+) and for cancer of the upper reproductive tract (EC/OC) was performed. Among patients who had normal histology or a low-grade lesion on final analysis, only 8.5% had positive dual staining. On the other hand, 85.7% of patients with AIS+ on final histology had positive dual staining. The respective specificities of p16/Ki67 dual staining on AGC-NOS for the detection of AIS+ (adenocarcinoma in situ or cervical adenocarcinoma), CIN3+ and EC/OC were 91.5%, 88.7% and 86.4%. High specificity values of p16/Ki67 dual staining on cervical smears labelled as AGC-NOS for the detection of CIN3+ and AIS+ suggest that this method might be a useful addition in cervical cancer screening.

Cytologic Parameters in Predicting the Outcome of Atypical Glandular Cells on Papanicolaou Smears: A Single-Institutional Experience

Background

Atypical glandular cells (AGCs) diagnosis on Pap (Papanicolaou) smears are uncommon and may represent various benign and malignant lesions.

Objective

This study aims to report the incidence of AGC on Pap smear, to study the relationship of AGC with malignancy, and to determine cytomorphological features that help in predicting malignancy.

Materials and Methods

Retrospective analytical study conducted in the Department of Oncopathology at Tertiary Cancer and Research Institute. In this retrospective study, we included cases diagnosed with AGC between July 2017 to July 2022. All slides were reviewed and subclassified according to the Bethesda 2014 classification system (TBS). The predetermined cytomorphological features observed in the smears were recorded. The follow-up histopathological diagnoses of the cases were retrieved. The significant cytomorphological and clinicopathological findings for malignancy were determined.

Results

Pearson χ2 test with SPSS software version 22 to compare cytologic features of cases with benign and malignant follow-up. The significant cytomorphological features observed in neoplastic cases were cells in 3-dimensional clusters, nuclear overlapping, reniform nucleus, irregular nuclear membrane, increased nuclear size, single macronucleoli, engulfed neutrophils, and prominently vacuolated cytoplasm.

Conclusions

The diagnosis of AGC on cytology is associated with clinically significant lesions, and cytomorphologic parameters can be used to predict the benign and malignant outcome.

Follow-up study on ThinPrep cytology test-positive patients in tropical regions

BACKGROUND

As shown in the statistics from the World Health Organization, it is estimated that approximately 75000 new cases of cervical cancer occur every year in China. In 2008, 33000 people died of cervical cancer in China. It is proven that most women are at risk of cervical cancer. The progression from human papillomavirus (HPV) infection to cervical cancer can be several years or decades, which offers a unique opportunity to prevent cancer.

AIM

To observe the changes in ThinPrep cytology tests (TCT) and HPV infection in patients who were detected to be positive via TCT screening of cervical cancer and further explore the biopsy results.

METHODS

This paper performed a follow-up study on 206 cervical cancer screening-positive patients of 12231 total cases from our previous research. We conducted an observational study on the TCT results based on the interpretation of The Bethesda System.

RESULTS

Over a 5-year period, 10 cases received consistent follow-up. The proportions of cases in which glandular epithelial lesions were detected increased over the follow-up period. The differences between the years were statistically significant (P < 0.01). Over the 5 years, the proportion of patients whose squamous epithelial lesions transformed into glandular epithelial lesions increased yearly. Annual positive rates of HPV infection were: year 1, 73% (24/33); year 2, 43% (6/14); year 3, 36% (9/25); year 4, 50% (9/18); and year 5, 25% (6/24). The positive detection rate after biopsy over a 9-year period was 29%.

CONCLUSION

The follow-up study for 5 years to 9 years revealed a tendency to change from squamous epithelial lesions to glandular epithelial lesions and an improvement of the disease (which had not been reported previously). The HPV test indicated a high negative conversion ratio of the viral infection. However, the follow-up cases were not found to have persistent infection of high-risk HPV. Therefore, early intervention of cervical cancer screening is necessary. Low re-examination compliance, patient education, and preventive measures should be enhanced.

Preventing Uterine Cervix Cancer: The Clinical Meaning of Atypical Glandular Cells

OBJECTIVE

 To determine the prevalence of the atypical glandular cells (AGCs) cytology and to analyze its clinical significance in different age ranges.

METHODS

 Retrospective observational study using computerized data from the Brazilian National Cancer Institute, including women screened between January 2002 and December 2008. The women included were those with an AGC result who were properly followed-up with colposcopy and a second cytology.

RESULTS

 A total of 132,147 cytopathological exams were performed during the study period. Five-hundred and thirty-three (0.4%) women with AGC cytology were identified and, of these, 69.41% (370/533) were properly referred for colposcopy and a new cytology. Most of the women (79.2%) with a 1st or 2nd AGC cytology were between the ages of 25 and 54 years. The 2nd cytology demonstrated 67.6% (250/370) of normality, 24.5% (91/370) of squamous atypia, and 6.2% (23/370) of AGC, 0.8% (3/370) adenocarcinoma in situ and 0.8% (3/370) adenocarcinoma invasor. On biopsy of the women with a second AGC cytology, 43.4% (10/23) had normal histology, 43.4% (10/23) had squamous lesions, 8.7% (2/23) had invasive adenocarcinoma, and 1.2% (1/23) had an inconclusive report. All of the women with high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL) or invasive adenocarcinoma (respectively 5 and 2 patients), after a 2nd AGC cytology were 25 years old or older.

CONCLUSION

 The prevalence of the AGC cytology was low in the studied population. Most of the AGC cytology cases occurred in adult women between the ages of 25 and 54. Although most of the patients had normal histology after follow-up, several of them presented with squamous intraepithelial lesions or invasive adenocarcinoma.

Factors Affecting the Histopathological Outcomes of Atypical Glandular Cells on Pap Test

Background:

Glandular cell abnormalities may indicate the presence of pre-malignant or malignant lesions.

Aim:

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between atypical glandular cells (AGC) and patients' demographics, histopathological outcomes, Human Papillomavirus (HPV) test results.

Material and Methods:

Between January 2015 and December 2019, women with AGC on Pap tests were retrieved from the hospital electronic database. The patients with AGC on cervicovaginal smears who underwent further pathological, laboratory, and imaging diagnostic testing and who were followed up at least 1-year were included in the study, while those who had a history of cervical dysplasia or cancer, lost during follow-up, or had missing data were excluded.

Results:

Of 85,692 Pap smears, 114 (0.13%) were diagnosed with AGC, of those 88 cases were eligible for final analysis. Gynecological malignancies were detected in 13 (14.8%) patients; including 6 (6.8%) endometrioid endometrial cancers, 3 (3.4%) non-endometrioid endometrial cancers, 2 (2.3%) cervical adenocarcinomas, 1 (1.1%) cervical squamous cell carcinoma, and 1 (1.1%) high-grade tubal serous cancer. Multivariate analysis revealed that presence of concomitant abnormal squamous lesion (P = 0.002), being 50 years and older (P = 0.028), HPV positivity (P < 0.001), and menopause (P = 0.023) were risk factors for significant pathology.

Conclusion:

The diagnosis of AGC may be related to the preneoplastic/neoplastic processes. A further comprehensive histopathological examination is required in women with AGC, aged 50 years and older, postmenopausal, HPV-positivity and concomitant squamous cell abnormality Clinicians should consider ovarian pathologies when there is no pathological finding on endometrial or cervical histopathological examination.

Atypical glandular cells in Papanicolaou test: Which is more important in the detection of malignancy, architectural or nuclear features?

OBJECTIVE

Atypical glandular cells (AGCs) in Pap (Papanicolaou) smears are uncommon but may represent various benign and malignant lesions. The aim of this study was to evaluate the AGC incidence in Pap smears, analyse the relationship between AGC and malignancy, and reveal the importance of architectural and nuclear features observed cytologically in malignancies.

METHODS

Patients diagnosed with AGC on the basis of cervicovaginal cytology between May 2011 and July 2018 were included in this study. All slides were retrospectively reviewed and subclassified according to the Bethesda 2001 classification system. The cytomorphological features observed in the smears were recorded. Cytohistological correlations were evaluated, and the significant clinicopathological findings for malignancy were determined.

RESULTS

Of 87 536 Pap smears, 195 (0.22%) had AGC results and 156 had tissue follow-up. Among the 156 smears with AGC, 80 (51.3%) were diagnosed as AGC-NOS (atypical glandular cells, not otherwise specified) and 76 (48.7%) as AGC-FN (atypical glandular cells, favour neoplastic). Follow-up biopsies revealed benign pathologies in 49 cases (31.4%) and malignant pathologies in 107 (68.6%). The rate of malignancy observed in AGC-FN cases (89.5%) was higher than the rate of malignancy in AGC-NOS cases (48.8%). Among the cytomorphological features, nuclear irregularity, presence of macronucleoli, feathering, loss of polarity, papillary pattern, and three-dimensional formation were found to be significant indicators of malignancy.

CONCLUSION

As AGC in Pap smear was associated with a clinically significant diagnosis in 68.6% of the cases in our study, we suggest that all patients with AGC should undergo further clinical assessment.

Risk of Gynecologic Cancer after Atypical Glandular Cells Found on Cervical Cytology: A Population-Based Cohort Study

BACKGROUND

Atypical glandular cells (AGC) are rare abnormalities found on cervical cytology associated with a range of lesions of the female reproductive system. We compared the risk of cervical and other gynecologic cancers following AGC on cervical cytology with the risk following squamous cell abnormalities of comparable severity.

METHODS

We used data from the Dutch Pathology Archive (PALGA) from 2000 to 2015 to categorize cervical cytology tests into groups based on most severe cytologic abnormality and correlated follow-up advice (normal cytology and "no follow-up" advice, squamous-cell-based, AGC-based, and combined AGC/squamous-cell based each with either repeat testing or referral advice). Cancer data were linked from the Netherlands Cancer Registry. Cox proportional hazard models were calculated stratified by age [younger (<50 years) and older (50+ years)], adjusted for number of previous primary cytology tests.

RESULTS

8,537,385 cytology smears and 9,061 cancers were included. When repeat cytology testing was advised, HRs of cervical cancer (younger women: HR, 6.91; 95% CI, 5.48-8.71; older women: HR, 3.98; 95% CI, 2.38-6.66) or other gynecologic cancer diagnosis in younger women (HR, 2.82; 95% CI, 1.39-5.74) were significantly higher after an AGC-based abnormality compared with squamous-based abnormalities. Hazards were also significantly higher for "referral" advice cytology, except for cervical cancer among older women (HR, 0.88; 95% CI, 0.63-1.21).

CONCLUSIONS

AGC indicates an increased risk of gynecologic cancer compared with squamous-based abnormalities of comparable severity.

IMPACT

Gynecologists should be alert for cervical and endometrial cancers when examining women referred following AGC.

More focus on atypical glandular cells in cervical screening: Risk of significant abnormalities and low histological follow-up rate

Objectives

Atypical glandular cells (AGC) detected by Papanicolaou (Pap) smears are in close relation with adenocarcinoma and precursors detected by histopathology. Yet, sometimes the cytological diagnosis of AGC has been neglected. With increase of adenocarcinoma and precursors, we need more focus on glandular abnormalities.

Material and Methods

Clinicopathological data of patients who had AGC on Pap smears between April 2015 and October 2018 and underwent histological follow-up were retrieved from the computerized database of Beijing Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, Capital Medical University. Patients with a prior history of cancer were excluded from the study. Statistical analyses were performed using Pearson's Chi-square test in SPSS software version 23. P < 0.05 (two sided) was considered as statistical significance.

Results

Liquid-based cytological examination of the uterine cervix was carried out in 164,080 women. Five hundred and twenty-five women were diagnosed with AGC, 314 with not otherwise specified (AGC-NOS), and 211 with favor neoplastic (AGC-FN). Only 310 cases had histological follow-up, 168 women (168/314, 53.5%) originally with AGC-NOS on Pap smears, and 142 (142/211, 67.3%) with AGC-FN. The median age of histological significant abnormalities was 46.7 years, and 126 women (126/162, 77.8%) were postmenopausal. Sixty-six cases (66/168, 39.3%) of AGC-NOS had significant abnormalities (96/142, 67.6%, AGC-FN). One hundred and sixty-two cases of significant abnormalities included 40 high-grade squamous abnormalities and 122 glandular abnormalities. AGC-FN was more likely to be associated with a clinically significant abnormalities (P < 0.001) compared to AGC-NOS.

Conclusions

Patients with AGC on Pap smears are in close relation with significant abnormalities, especially with significant glandular abnormalities on histopathology slices. AGC should be evaluated vigilantly with histological workup, especially if patients are diagnosed with AGC-FN and are aged 41-60 years. We need more focus on AGC.

Glandular Cell Abnormalities on SurePath Preparations: A Retrospective Review with Cytology-Histology Correlations

OBJECTIVE

Detecting glandular lesions is challenging by all Pap test methodologies. As the availability of data on identifying glandular abnormalities by SurePath is scarce, we investigated the detection rates and the correlation with histology follow-up.

STUDY DESIGN

A total of 105,927 cases (SurePath and conventional) were searched for the diagnosis of atypical glandular cells or higher glandular abnormalities (AGC+) with the corresponding histologic diagnosis. The associations between the Pap test methods and diagnostic categories were assessed by χ2 test.

RESULTS

Overall, 0.32% of SurePath (159/49,375) and 0.29% of conventional (164/56,552) cases showed AGC+ (p = 0.38). Histology confirmed significant abnormalities in 42 versus 53.5% of the cases, respectively (p = 0.064); 72.7% (SurePath) versus 65.2% (conventional) of these were glandular in nature (p = 0.37). The diagnosis of neoplasia (favored or definitive) showed malignancy on follow-up in 100% of SurePath cases (12/12). In contrast, 82.1% of these conventional cases disclosed premalignant or malignant lesions by histology (p = 0.12).

CONCLUSIONS

AGC+ cases showed higher prevalence on SurePath preparations. Conventional cases had more abnormalities on follow-up, while glandular lesions represented a higher proportion of abnormal histologies following SurePath AGC+s. The positive predictive value of favored or definite neoplasia was higher in SurePath cases. Overall, these differences were not statistically significant.