Influence of Prior Psychiatric Disorders on the Treatment Course of Gynaecological Cancer – A Nationwide Cohort Study

Aims

To examine the influence of pre-existing psychiatric disorder on the choice of treatment in patients with gynaecological cancer.

Statistical analysis of pathologic risk factors for intramyometrial lymphvascular space involvement in myoinvasive endometrial carcinoma

In a retrospective study using univariate analysis, we identified tumor type (nonendometrioid vs endometrioid), depth of myoinvasion (MI), mode of MI (infiltrative vs cohesive), and direct anatomic invasion of the cervical wall from the isthmus as significant positive risk factors for intramyometrial lymphvascular space involvement (LVSI). On multivariate analysis, tumor grade, depth of MI, and mode of MI retained their significance. We created a grid for the relative risks of LVSI with respect to these variables individually or in combination. We suggest that our indirect estimate of the risk of LVSI can help in assessing prognosis and determining the need for adjuvant therapy whenever LVSI is important in clinical decision making, but its pathologic diagnosis is uncertain.     

Endometrial cancer patients have a significant risk of harboring isolated tumor cells in histologically negative lymph nodes

In this study, we examine the prevalence of finding isolated tumor cells (ITCs) in negative lymph nodes of endometrial cancer patients using immunohistochemistry. Seventy-six endometrial cancer patients with lymph nodes histologically negative for metastatic disease were examined. Nodal tissue sections were stained with anticytokeratin antibodies AE-1 and CAM 5.2. Nodes with single or groups of cells (two to four cells) < or =0.2 mm and showing cytokeratin reactivity were positive for ITCs. Findings were compared to features of the primary tumor and patient outcome. ITCs were present in 31 of 1712 lymph nodes. Fifteen (19.7%) patients had ITC-positive nodes. ITCs involved only pelvic nodes in nine cases, only para-aortic nodes in five cases, and pelvic and para-aortic in one case. Tumor in adnexa was the only pathologic feature associated with nodal ITCs (P= 0.0485). All 15 patients with nodal ITCs were alive at follow-up. One (6.7%) patient suffered recurrent disease but was alive at last encounter. Disease recurred in 5 (8.8%) of 57 patients without nodal ITCs. Two are alive without disease, two alive with disease, and one died from her cancer. In summary, a significant proportion of endometrial cancer patients have ITCs detected by immunohistochemistry in histologically negative regional lymph nodes.     

Is cholic acid responsible for embryo-toxicity of the post-receptive uterine environment?

HPLC analysis of the embryo-toxic fraction of human uterinefluid, collected between the 22nd and 25th days of the menstrualcycle, revealed the presence of cholic acid at high concentrations.It is suggested that cholic acid could be responsible for theembryo-toxicity of the uterine environment, which follows thereceptive period for implantation.     

Transvaginal ultrasound and diagnostic hysteroscopy as a predictor of endometrial polyps: risk factors for premalignancy and malignancy

The aim of this study is to assess accuracy of transvaginal ultrasound (TVUS) and diagnostic hysteroscopy in diagnosing endometrial polyps and to determine premalignancy and malignancy rates in asymptomatic women. The study was designed to retrospectively analyze 438 women who underwent operative hysteroscopy in a day-care unit when endometrial polyp was suspected after TVUS and diagnostic hysteroscopy. Multivariate logistic regression modeling showed effects of age, previous breast cancer with tamoxifen treatment, and menopause with or without bleeding on pathologic results. The results indicate that positive predictive value of TVUS with diagnostic hysteroscopy was 79.9%. Premalignancy or malignancy occurred in 3.2% and was significantly related to menopause with abnormal bleeding (P < 0.001), which carried a 20-fold higher risk of pathology than any other group. Age was also a risk factor. It was concluded that TVUS with diagnostic hysteroscopy reliably evaluates endometrial polyps. The low incidence of endometrial tumors in asymptomatic (especially premenopausal) women suggests that their operative evaluation may not be cost effective. Larger studies are needed to support this tentative conclusion.     

Expression of p27 and p53: comparative analysis of uterine carcinosarcoma and endometrial carcinoma

The aim of the study was to assess both p27 and p53 expression in the stromal and epithelial component of carcinosarcoma and to assess if their expression in the latter is different than in endometrial carcinoma. Immunohistochemical staining for p27 and p53 was performed on paraffin-embedded tissue blocks of 18 uterine specimens with carcinosarcoma and their expression assessed. Their expression in the epithelial element was also compared to that in 35 paraffin-embedded tissue blocks of endometrial endometrioid carcinoma. Reduced p27 expression was observed in a similarly high proportion of the stromal (77.8%) as well as of the epithelial component (66.7%) of carcinosarcoma. Although statistically not significant, the proportion of reduced p27 expression in endometrial carcinoma (85.7%) was higher than in the epithelial element of carcinosarcoma. The percentage of p53 overexpression in both elements of carcinosarcomas and in endometrial carcinomas was low and also similar (27.8 and 20.0%, respectively). Our results indicate that reduced p27 expression is common and p53 overexpression is infrequent in carcinosarcoma. Their similar rates of expression in the stromal and epithelial elements of the tumor support the contention of a monoclonal origin of carcinosarcoma. Unexpectedly, reduced p27 expression is more common in endometrial carcinoma than in the epithelial element of carcinosarcoma, in spite of the less favorable prognosticators and outcome in the latter. Further studies of p27 expression in carcinosarcoma are indicated to establish its clinical value in this aggressive malignancy.     

经阴道超声诊断子宫内膜癌

目的 探讨应用经阴道超声（TVS）诊断绝经前后出血妇女子宫内膜癌的价值。方法 采用彩色多普勒超声诊断仪检测74例阴道异常出血的妇女，其中绝经前28例，绝经后46例，所有患者均取子宫内膜组织行病理对照。结果 TVS检测子宫内膜癌的敏感性、特异性、假阳性率、假阴性率、阳性预测值和阴性预测值，绝经前妇女依次为61．5％，50．0％，14．3％，23．8％，94．1％和54．5％，绝经后妇女依次为97．3％，55．6％，44．4％，2．7％，90．0％和83．0％。结论 TVS检测可作为子宫内膜癌首选的筛查方法，尤其对于绝经后妇女价值更大。     

番荔枝开花生物学与人工授粉研究

对三年生番荔枝（Ancnona squamosa L.)实生树的开花生物学和人工授粉进行了研究并发现；番荔枝的花有两荔异熟现象，人工授粉能提高座果率，简便而有效的方法是用毛笔直接从树上花药自然裂开的花上聚花粉并立即授在花药没裂开的花上，授粉后两周的座果率达87．9％，授 在花药裂开的花上，座果率为5．3％，与对照照座果率4．4％没有区别，说明花药裂开柱头容受性完全消失，花药裂开时间与品种特有关，目前，广东栽培的番荔枝分为花药早上裂开和傍开两种类型，这两种类型的不同品种之间授粉也能提高座果率，授粉后两周的座果率为83．3％。说明花裂开关12h柱头容受性仍完全正常。     

Isolation and characterization of endometrial leukocyte populations by flow cytometry

Potentialities of the flow cytornetry method in studies of the qualitative and quantitative composition of endometrial immunocompetent cells are demonstrated. The studied leukocyte populations are found to occur in negligible quantities in the endometrium. Translated fromByulleten' Eksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 117, N ^o 1, pp. 68–71, January, 1994.