Patients with an initial PR can obtain CR after further treatment, and the PgR may be useful in predicting CR to fertility-preserving treatment in young women with endometrial cancer.

BACKGROUND Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and VEGF‐C play a crucial role in the regulation of tumor growth and metastasis. The current study examined the significance of serum VEGF and VEGF‐C levels in relation to conventional clinicopathologic parameters, response to treatment, and survival in patients with cervical carcinoma. METHODS Between December 1999 and March 2004, serum VEGF and VEGF‐C levels were analyzed in 78 patients with cervical carcinoma undergoing primary treatment (primary surgery [n = 40] and radiotherapy [n = 38]), as well as in 30 healthy controls. Serum VEGF and VEGF‐C levels were assessed by enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay before and within 2 weeks after treatment. RESULTS Serum VEGF and VEGF‐C levels were higher in patients with cervical carcinoma than in the healthy control (P = 0.0002 and P = 0.0007, respectively). Both VEGF and VEGF‐C concentrations increased significantly in patients with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC vs. normal control: P < 0.0001 and P = 0.0001, respectively), but not in adenocarcinoma (vs. normal control: P = 0.2982 and P = 0.7766, respectively). In an analysis of SCC, the pretherapeutic serum levels of VEGF and VEGF‐C correlated significantly with advanced International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stage and large tumor size, but not with lymph node metastasis. The pretherapeutic serum level of VEGF‐C also correlated significantly with disease recurrence or persistence after treatment. Both serum VEGF and VEGF‐C levels decreased significantly after treatment. CONCLUSIONS The serum levels of both VEGF and VEGF‐C have potential usefulness as biologic markers of SCC of the uterine cervix. Cancer 2005. © 2005 American Cancer Society.

Placental mesenchymal dysplasia is a rare condition of pregnancy that presents as macroscopic features of molar change in the placenta and normal karyotype fetus. These cases are often misdiagnosed as partial mole. We report a new case of mesenchymal dysplasia. A 27-year-old Japanese primigravida delivered an 820 g female baby (46XX karyotype) without congenital anomalies at 27 weeks gestation due to massive bleeding with placenta previa. The placenta had mimicking partial moles, grape-like vesicles and normal villi that diffusely occupied the area on the maternal surface of the placenta. Pathologically, enlarged stem villi contained loose, moderately cellular connective tissue with focal cistern-like formation, and peripherally located vessels. Abnormal trophoblastic proliferation and trophoblastic inclusions were not observed in any of the sections examined. Some villi contained chorioangiomatoid changes. The mother and child were followed up for more than 5 years and showed no sign of trophoblastic disease or Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome features.

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