Comparison of programmed death-ligand 1 expression in adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix in paraffin blocks of patients with cervical cancer.

AIMS: Cervical cancer (CC) is a common malignancy in women, predominantly caused by human papillomavirus. The most subtypes are adenocarcinomas (AC) and squamous cell carcinomas (SCC), which show various features and treatment responses. Programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) and programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) as Immune checkpoint molecules, play a role in immune evasion. We investigated PD-L1 expression in AC and SCC of the cervix and explored its link to clinical characteristics. METHODS AND RESULTS: The present cross-sectional research was done between 2016 and 2022 on samples in Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences-affiliated hospitals in Iran. Histological tissue samples of CCs (16 AC and 48 SCC) were assessed, and clinical information was obtained by reviewing their medical documents. PD-L1 expression was evaluated by immunohistochemistry and we used the combined positive score. SCC cases showed a higher (not significant) PD-L1 expression. The PD-L1 expression and clinical characteristics were not significantly correlated in both subgroups. CONCLUSION: Although SCC cases exhibited higher PD-L1 expression, this difference was non-significant. More investigations should highlight the role of PD-L1 in CC and the potential benefits of immunotherapy.

Placental Mesenchymal Dysplasia Associated with Severe Intrauterine Growth Restriction: A Case Report.

Placental mesenchymal dysplasia (PMD) is an uncommon placental lesion, which may mimic molar pregnancy at gross and microscopic examination. PMD can be associated with fetal growth restriction, Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome, intrauterine fetal death, and preterm delivery. Nonetheless, it may also be associated with a normal appearing fetus. We aimed to emphasize that clinicians, radiologists, and pathologists should be aware of PMD as one of the etiologies of intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR). We presented the case of a 27-year-old gravida 1, para 1 woman who was admitted to Ayatollah Rouhani hospital, in Babol, Iran, at 30 weeks of gestation due to severe IUGR and fetal tachycardia. Ultrasound examination showed uteroplacental insufficiency and increased resistive index (RI) of umbilical artery. At last, a normal female fetus (1320 g) with no definitive anomalies was delivered by cesarean section. Pathological examination revealed cystically dilated stem villi with peripherally located thick-walled muscular stem vessels, and also stromal fibroblasts overgrowth in some stem villi. None of the examined sections revealed trophoblastic proliferation or stromal trophoblastic inclusion. The findings confirmed the diagnosis of PMD. Careful radiological and pathological examination should be performed in the case of IUGR for ruling out the rare placental abnormalities, including PMD.