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Tambouret, Rosemary

Objective. To determine the frequency of high risk (HR) HPV and intraepithelial neoplasia following ASCUS pap cytology screens in menopausal women. Study Design. Following IRB approval, we performed a retrospective review of all cases of ASCUS pap tests, HPV results, and relevant clinical-pathologic data in women age 50 or over from November 2005 to January 2007 within a tertiary care center. Statistical analyses were performed in EXCEL. Results. 344 patients were analyzed for a total of 367 screening pap tests. 25.29% (87/344) patients were HR HPV positive, with greater percentages of HR HPV cases occurring in women age 65–74. Within HR HPV cases, 79.3% (69/87) underwent colposcopy. 27.5% (19/69) biopsy proven lesions were discovered, including cervical, vulvar or vaginal (intraepithelial neoplasia). Within the negative HR HPV group 3.1% (8/257) patients were diagnosed with dysplasia or carcinoma. Within both HR HPV positive and negative groups, patients with no prior history of lower genital tract lesions or cancer were identified. Conclusion. Reflex HPV testing plays an important role in ASCUS triage in menopausal women. Pap test screening and HPV testing should not be limited to women of reproductive age as they may aid in the diagnosis of intraepithelial neoplasia in women of older age.

A 22-year-old woman was admitted to this hospital because of hypercalcemia and a pelvic mass. One month before admission, abdominal pain developed, followed by abdominal fullness, anorexia, nausea, vomiting, polydipsia, and nocturia. A computed tomographic scan of the pelvis showed a complex right adnexal mass. The serum calcium level was 17.2 mg per deciliter. A diagnostic procedure was performed.

Clear cell ovarian cancer (CCOC) is an epithelial ovarian cancer histotype with unique pathologic, biologic and clinical features. Despite its worse prognosis than serous ovarian cancer (SOC), the genomic landscape of CCOC is less well defined. Integrated genomic analysis of CCOC allows the identification of potential therapeutic targets to improve the treatment of this tumor. Using comparative genomic hybridization and gene expression profiling, we have screened 12 CCOC cell lines and 40 tumors to identify 45 amplified and overexpressed genes. Pathways analysis of these genes identified 19 genes with cancer-related functions. Of these, PRKCI is one of the most frequently amplified and overexpressed genes and its expression induced cancer cell proliferation and migration/invasion in vitro as well as tumor growth in vivo. Targeting PRKCI by small molecule inhibitor, sodium aurothiomalate (ATM), significantly reduced the in vivo tumor growth and may be a new therapeutic strategy to improve the treatment of CCOC.