11/13- Uterine Neoplasms and Pathology Flashcards
From most to least common, rate the gynecologic cancers (3)
Uterine > ovarian > cervical cancer
What stage of the uterine cycle are people in anovulation?
Proliferative
- Contributes to hyperplasias and neoplasias
- No LH burst or movement on to secretory phase
What is seen here? Histologic features?
Proliferative endometrium
- Glands
- Pseudostratified nuclei
- Mitosis
- Stroma
- Small, plump blue round or spindle cells
What is seen here? Histologic features?
Early secretory endometrium
- Progesterone causes secretory changes (starts in base)
- Base has tiny vacuoles; gives “piano key” appearance
- Day 16-18 of menstrual cycle (right after ovulation)
What is seen here? Histologic features?
Mid secretory endometrium
- Secretions become supra-nuclear; secreted into lumen (in the center)
- Stromal cells acquire abundant cytoplasm, pinker, (pseudo-decidualization); becomes “cushiony”
- Spiral arterioles become prominent
What is seen here? Histologic features?
Late secretory endometrium with onset of menstruation
- Tiny blue nests of stromal cells; stromal breakdown
- See glands breaking down
- Endometrium undergoes ischemia (vessels constrict and you see a lot of bleeding)
What hormone is a key factor in endometrial hyperplasia and cancer development? How?
Estrogen
- Proliferative phase is hyper-estrogenic state
- Estrogen can diffuse across cell memb
- Activate receptors to promote proliferation of endometrium
What is the theory behind estrogen induced endometrial cancer?
- Cell-acquired DNA mutations occur w/ hyperproliferation
- Increased probability of random DNA errors
- Cell cannot correct errors during rapid cell division
What are 6 risk factors for endometrial hyperplasia and cancer?
- Age (most important!)
- Early menarche, late menopause
- Race
- Highest in non-Hispanic white females
- Higher mortality in African American women
- Unopposed estrogen exposure
- Estrogen replacement (no progestin)
- Early menarche/late menopause
- Nulliparity
- Insulin resistance
- Obesity (10x risk)
- Nulliparity
- Tamoxifen use
- FHx
- Infertility
- PCOS
- Estrogen producing ovarian tumors (granulosa cell tumors)
_____ is responsible for 57% of US endometrial cancers
Obesity is responsible for 57% of US endometrial cancers
- Endometrial cancer is the one most strongly associated with obesity
What factors in obesity contribute to the risk of endometrial cancer?
Increased endogenous estrogen
- Adipose cells convert adrenal steroids to estrone
- Decrease in SHBG, increased bioavailability of estrogens
What is Tamoxifen? What factors of Tamoxifen contribute to the risk of endometrial cancer?
Selective estrogen receptor modulator
- Breast: estrogen antagonist
- Uterus: estrogen agonist
Trials found:
- NSABP B-14 trial: 7.5x rate of endo CA
- Carcinogenic potential of tamoxifen on the endometrium is clearly established but mechanism is not known
- Current recommendations are for EMB for vaginal bleeding; no need for routine screening with US or EMB
- Benefits of the med outweigh the risks
How does a nulliparous condition affect estrogen exposure?
- There are potential hormonal factors during pregnancy and lactation that represent a period of reduced exposure to unopposed estrogen (missing in nulliparity)
- Higher risk for endometrial cancer
Read through these typical presentations of endometrial cancer
- 63 yo with BMI 32 who presents 4 month history of postmenopausal bleeding
- 46 yo with BMI 43 who presents with irregular heavy vaginal bleeding for past 5 years
- 39 yo with BMI 27 who presents with prolonged menses for the past 6 months and family history of colon and endometrial cancer
What patients require endometrial sampling for evaluating endometrial cancer?
Post-menopausal and irregular vaginal bleeding
What are methods of endometrial sampling for evaluating endometrial cancer? Insufficient modalities?
- Office endometrial biopsy
- Dilation and curettage
Insufficient:
- Ultrasound: “endometrial stripe”
- Pap smear (only sampling cervix, not endometrium)
Describe the diagnostic capabilities of endometrial biopsy for endometrial cancer
- Office endometrial biopsies have a false negative rate of 10%
- Negative EMB in a symptomatic patient should be followed by a D&C
What is endometrial hyperplasia?
- What causes it
- In what age groups
- Presentation
- Precancer or benign
- “Overgrowth” of endometrium secondary to prolonged unopposed estrogen
- Seen in adolescents through menopause
- Presents with abnormal uterine bleeding
- Considered precursor to “Type 1” endometrial cancer `
What are associated conditions in endometrial hyperplasia?
- Anovulatory cycles in teens
- Granulosa cell tumors of the ovary
- Unopposed estrogen (women with a uterus should not, as a rule, ever receive estrogen therapy alone without progesterone)
- Tamoxifen
How is endometrial hyperplasia classified?
Simple hyperplasia
- With/out atypia
Complex hyperplasia
- With/out atypia
How is hyperplasia diagnosed? Architecture? Atypia?
- Hyperplasia: shift of gland:stroma ratio > 2:1
- Architecture:
- Simple: dilated glands with minimal branching
- Complex: complex glandular branching
- Atypia: enlargement and rounding of nuclei, coarse chromatin and irregular nuclear contours as compared to the patient’s normal endometrium
What is seen here?
Simple endometrial hyperplasia without atypia
- Some branching, but not too much; most glands are just dilated
- Cytology of glands look very much like proliferative endometrium
What is seen here?
Simple endometrial hyperplasia with atypia
- Glands are somewhat dilated
- Some branching
- Cytologically, cells are much larger and rounder; chromatin is more coarse
What is seen here?
Complex endometrial hyperplasia without atypia
- Glands are very blanched (complex)
- Glands getting crowded and hard to distinguish
- Still cells are not very different form baseline epithelium (similar to proliferative endometrium)
What is seen here?
Complex endometrial hyperplasia with atypia
- A lot of branching of the glands; can’t tell one from another. All seem to be connected
- See baseline gland in bottom right (basal nuclei, no atypia)
- Other nuclei are very different
What is the risk of progression to cancer with the different types of hyperplasia?
(Penny, nickel, dime, quarter)
- Simple without atypia: 1%
- Complex without atypia: ~5%
- Simple with atypia: 10%
- Complex with atypia: 25%
NOTE: atypia more significant than simple vs. complex; simple with atypia > complex without atypia
How is endometrial hyperplasia without atypia managed in premenopausal and postmenopausal woman?
Premenopausal, if no atypia on biopsy:
- Provera or
- Mirena IUD or
- OCPs
- Resample every 3-6 mo
Postmenopausal, if no atypia on biopsy
- Provera or Mirena
- Resample every 3-6 mo
- Hysterectomy if disease persists or bleeding (or if want from the start)
How is endometrial hyperplasia with atypia managed?
Desires fertility or not surgical candidate:
- Dilation and curettage
- Progestin therapy or Mirena IUD
- Rebiopsy every 3 mo
If completed childbearing (or later biopsy comes back positive)
- Hysterectomy
Describe epidemiology of endometrial cancer
- # __ cancer in women
- # __ gynecologic cancer
- Lifetime risk
- Median age of diagnosis
- ____% diagnosed before menopause
- __% under 40 yo
- #4 cancer in women (#7 cancer COD)
- #1 gynecologic cancer
- Lifetime risk: 3%
- Median age of diagnosis = 61 yo
- 20-25% diagnosed before menopause
- 5% under 40 yo
What is type I vs. type II endometrial cancer?
- How common
- Age
- Histology
- Hyperplasia present?
- Prognosis
- Associations
Type I (90%)
- Hyperestrogenism
- Younger age
- Endometrioid histology
- Hyperplasia present
- Low grade
- Good prognosis
- Obesity
- Lynch syndrome
Type II (10%)
- Not associated with estrogen
- Older age
- Other histologies (not endometrioid)
- Hyperplasia absent
- High grade
- Poor prognosis
What are histologic subtypes of type I and type II endometrial cancer?
Type I:
- Endometrioid adenocarcinoma
Type II:
- Serous carcinoma
- Clear cell carcinoma
- Carcinosarcoma/malignant mixed mullerian tumors
Describe endometrioid adenocarcinoma (type I)
- ___% of cases
- Oversall survival
- Associations
- Phases
- 75-80% of cases
- Overall survival 80-90%
- Associated with obesity and unopposed estrogen
- Premalignant phase: endometrial hyperplasia (Endometrioid is NOT = to endometrial)
What is seen here?
Endometrioid endometrial adenocarcinoma
Describe the FIGO grading system of endometrioid adenocarcinoma
Recall, grading is based on histology! (Staging is based on size/spread)
- Grade 1: 5% or less of solid growth pattern (non-squamous)
- Grade 2: 6-50% of solid pattern (non-squamous); lost glandular histology
- Grade 3: >50% solid pattern (non-squamous)
What is seen here?
Endometrioid adenocarcinoma, grade 1
- Back to back glands with no intervening stroma but most of glands are still tubular
- Very little solid component (under 5%)
What is seen here?
Endometrioid adenocarcinoma, grade 2
- Still have some glands, but most have fused together to form solid area
What is seen here?
Endometrioid adenocarcinoma, grade 3
What is seen here?
Endometrioid adenocarcinoma with sqaumous metaplasia
- Squamous metaplasia is a unique feature of endometrioid carcinomas (helpful in diagnosing adenocarcinoma mets)
Describe serous carcinoma
- Mode of spread
- Response to chemo
- Recurrence risk
- Microscopic features
- Genetics
- Type II (high grade)
- Mode of spread more like ovarian cancer with extra-uterine spread, even with minimal invasion
- Typically chemosensitive (very mitotically active)
- High recurrence risk
Microscopic features:
- Glandular, papillary, and solid architectures
- Diffuse marked atypia*, pleomorphism, and increased mitosis
- Giant cells, psammoma bodies
TP53 mutations
NOTE: anolagous to high grade serous carcinoma of the ovary (there is no analogous form of the low grade ovarian serous carcinoma)
What is seen here?
Serous carcinoma, solid pattern
- Very bizarre cells with atypia
- Some mitotic figures are seen
Describe clear cell carcinoma
- Type
- Prognosis
- Response to chemo
- Recurrence risk
- Microscopic features
- Type II
- Rare with poor prognosis
- Typically resistant to chemotherapy (not many mitoses)
- High recurrence risk (like all type II carcinomas)
Microscopic features:
- Tubulocystic, papillary, and solid architectures
- Focal marked atpia, pleomorphism*
- Can have clear or eosinophilic cytoplasm
- Relative lack of mitosis* (distinguishes from serous carcinoma)
What is seen here?
Clear cell carcinoma