BackgroundUltrasound guided fine-needle aspiration (FNA) is a standard procedure for thyroid nodules management and selecting patients for surgical treatment. Atypia of undetermined significance (AUS) or follicular lesion of undetermined significance (FLUS), as stated by The Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology, is a diagnostic category with an implied malignancy risk of 5–15%. The aim of our study was to review cytology and histopathology reports, as well as clinical and ultrasound data, for thyroid nodules reported as AUS/FLUS, in order to evaluate the malignancy rate and to assess factors associated with malignant outcome.Patients and methodsA total of 112 AUS/FLUS thyroid nodules in 105 patients were evaluated, of which 85 (75.9%) were referred to surgery, 21 (18.8%) were followed-up by repeat FNA and 6 nodules (5.3%) were clinically observed. Each was categorized in two final diagnostic groups - benign or malignant, which were further compared to clinical data of patients and ultrasonographic features of the nodules.ResultsFinal diagnosis of malignancy was reached in 35 cases (31.2%) and 77 (68.8%) had benign lesions. The most frequent type of cancer was papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) - 58.1% PTC and 25.8% had follicular variant of PTC. Patients’ younger age, smaller nodule size, hypoechoic nodule and presence of calcifications were shown to be statistically significant risk factors for malignancy.ConclusionsThe rate of malignancy for the AUS/FLUS diagnostic category in our study was higher than estimated by the Bethesda System. Clinical and ultrasound factors should be considered when decision for patient treatment is being made.

AIM:The primary objective of the study was to evaluate the overall survival of women with advanced stage (Stage IIIA-IV) high-grade serous ovarian cancer in MacedoniaMATERIALS AND METHODS:The study was a cross-sectional medical record review of patients diagnosed with advanced stage HGSC. Patients were deemed eligible for inclusion if they were diagnosed with an advanced stage (Stage IIIA-IV) HGSC of the ovary, fallopian tube or peritoneum between 2009 and 2015. The data were analyzed in a descriptive fashion and summary statistics were provided, as appropriate. Survival was calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method.RESULTS:A total of 81 eligible patients were identified and included in the study. The average overall survival in the studied cohort was 46.59 months (95%CI = 39.11-54.06). Patients that were optimally debulked and patients that had a platinum-free interval larger than 12 months had significantly longer survival in the current series (p < 0.001).CONCLUSION:the average overall survival of advanced stage HGSC patients in the studied series was 46.59 months (95%CI = 39.11-54.06). Patients aged 65 years or younger tended to live approximately ten months longer than patients older than 65 years, but this difference was not statistically significant. There was no difference in HGSC survival in the groups of patients with grade 2 and grade 3 disease. However, optimal surgical debulking and platinum sensitivity were associated with significantly better overall survival.

Accurate assessment of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2) is crucial in selecting patients for targeted therapy. Commonly used methods for HER-2 testing are immunohistochemistry (IHC) and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). Here we presented the implementation, optimization and standardization of two FISH protocols using breast cancer samples and assessed the impact of pre-analytical and analytical factors on HER-2 testing. Formalin fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) tissue samples from 70 breast cancer patients were tested for HER-2 using PathVysion™ HER-2 DNA Probe Kit and two different paraffin pretreatment kits, Vysis/Abbott Paraffin Pretreatment Reagent Kit (40 samples) and DAKO Histology FISH Accessory Kit (30 samples). The concordance between FISH and IHC results was determined. Pre-analytical and analytical factors (i.e., fixation, baking, digestion, and post-hybridization washing) affected the efficiency and quality of hybridization. The overall hybridization success in our study was 98.6% (69/70); the failure rate was 1.4%. The DAKO pretreatment kit was more time-efficient and resulted in more uniform signals that were easier to interpret, compared to the Vysis/Abbott kit. The overall concordance between IHC and FISH was 84.06%, kappa coefficient 0.5976 (p < 0.0001). The greatest discordance (82%) between IHC and FISH was observed in IHC 2+ group. A standardized FISH protocol for HER-2 assessment, with high hybridization efficiency, is necessary due to variability in tissue processing and individual tissue characteristics. Differences in the pre-analytical and analytical steps can affect the hybridization quality and efficiency. The use of DAKO pretreatment kit is time-saving and cost-effective.

BACKGROUND:Endometrial cancer is the third-ranked genital malignancy in women and includes 3% of cancer deaths. There is a 2.8% chance of a woman developing endometrial cancer during her lifetime. Low-grade endometrioid adenocarcinomas are often seen along with endometrial hyperplasia, but high-grade endometrioid adenocarcinomas have more solid sheets of less-differentiated tumour cells, which are no longer organised into glands, often associated with surrounded atrophic endometrium.CASE REPORT:We present an unusual case of endometrial adenocarcinoma arising in adenomyoma in 74-year old woman presented with genital prolapse, without other clinical symptoms. Ultrasound evaluation revealed endometrium with 4 mm-thickness and atrophic ovaries. The cervical smear was normal. The patient underwent a total vaginal hysterectomy. The histopathology of the anterior uterine wall revealed an intramural adenomyoma of 4 mm in which some endometrial glands with malignant transformation of well-differentiated endometrioid adenocarcinoma without infiltration in surrounding myometrium and lymphovascular invasion were present. The endometrium lining the uterine cavity was predominantly atrophic, and only one focus of simplex and complex hyperplasia was found, with cell-atypia. According to AJCC/FIGO 2010, the tumour was classified: pTNM = pT1B pNX pMX G1 R0 L0 V0 NG1, Stage I. On dismiss, the near-future oncological consultation was recommended.CONCLUSION:We would like to point out the rare occurrence of such type of malignancy and the importance of meticulous histopathology evaluation, even after reconstructive surgery for genital prolapse.

Adrenal cystic lesions are uncommon but due to the improved radiologic imaging techniques their appearance seems to increase. Material and Methods: We analyzed the clinical and radiological findings of 10 patients with adrenal cysts and the pathological features of the operative material. Standard dissection procedure and paraffin embedded tissue sections were made, stained by HE and immunohistochemically with CD34, CD 31, Factor 8, Podoplanin, CKWS and AE1/AE3 Results: The mean age of the patients was 40.6 years; female to male ratio was 2.3:1. All the cysts were diagnosed as cystic lesions radiologically except one. The most present clinical symptom was abdominal pain. The diameter of the cysts measured from 2 to 7 cm. Four of the cysts were diagnosed as pseudocysts and six as endothelial. Six cysts were lined by CD34+ and CD31+ cells, four were lined by Factor 8+ and podoplanin+ cells and four had no lining. Conclusion: Endothelial cysts were more common cysts in our study and the immunohistochemical results suggested common vascular origin to all endothelial cysts and supported additional separation of angiomatous and lymphangiomathous adrenal vascular cysts.