Utility of ProExC and IMP3 immunocytochemical staining in atypical glandular cells of undetermined significance in liquid‐based cervical cytology

Abstract

The diagnosis of atypical glandular cells of undetermined significance (AGUS) in liquid-based cervical cytology specimens shows significant underlying pathology in only 30% of cases, while the remaining cases are found to be benign (reactive, reparative/metaplastic). Previous studies have reported positive ProExC and IMP3 staining in neoplastic glandular lesions of the uterine cervix and corpus. We present our experience with the utility of these markers in the evaluation of AGUS cases in liquid-based cervical cytology. The case cohort included 34 cases diagnosed as AGUS. ProExC and IMP3 immunocytochemical (ICC) stains were performed on ThinPrep® slides and the results correlated with subsequent biopsy findings. Positive expression was classified as strong diffuse nuclear immunostaining for ProExC and granular cytoplasmic for IMP3. The presence of AGUS cells on the ICC stained slides was confirmed in all cases. IMP3 was positive in 80% of glandular neoplasms and negative in 93% non-glandular lesions/cases negative for squamous intraepithelial lesion (SIL). ProExC was positive in 60% of glandular neoplasms and negative in 83% non-glandular lesions/cases negative for SIL. When used as a panel (ProExC + IMP3), at least one stain was positive in 100% of glandular neoplasm cases and they were both negative in 83% of non-glandular lesions/cases negative for SIL. Based on this study, both ProExC and IMP3, when used as an immuno panel, can predict the presence of glandular lesions on subsequent biopsies and can serve as an aid in the diagnosis and management of AGUS cases.

Immunocytochemical study of TOP2A and Ki-67 in cervical smears from women under routine gynecological care

“…In our study, using both markers enabled identification of cellular abnormalities in four of five ASC-US samples, corroborating the results of previous studies focused on atypical squamous cell cytology [ 5 , 8 , 27 , 31 ]. We also identified structural modifications in samples with cytological abnormalities without HPV-DNA identification.…”

<p>Progress in immunocytochemical staining for cervical cancer screening</p>

“…Furthermore, in the setting of differentiating glandular neoplasms from squamous lesions, the performance of ProEx C appears to be suboptimal for that positivity percent showed no statistically significant difference in both lesion subgroups. Therefore, Ricardo et al used IMP3/ProEx C staining to analyze specimens diagnosed as atypical glandular cells of uncertain significance (AGUS) based on cervical cytology and showed that this method generated a positive predictive value of 100% for adenocarcinoma and a negative predictive value of 83% for lesions not associated with adenocytes 55. Hence, it was suggested that IMP3/ProEx C staining may serve as a potential diagnostic marker for patients with AGUS.…”

Potential Roles of IGF2BP3 in Bladder Cancer

“…Therefore, the IGF2BP can be used as a valuable tumor marker in human cancer. However, reports show considerable differences in the expression frequency among different types of cancer [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24] , which may be due to the speci city of tissues, use of different antibodies, staining schemes, and scoring standards in experiments. Ramaswamy Suhasini suggest that the IGF2BP3 may promote the expression of the target IGF2 mRNA in an mTOR-controlled manner and promote the tumor's growth 25,26 .…”