ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To assess the rate of HER2/neu overexpression in cytologic specimens by immunocytochemistry (ICC) and compare these results in matched surgical specimens by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), when available. STUDY DESIGN: All cytologic specimens processed for HER2/neu evaluation by ICC (72 cases) and available corresponding histologic specimens (16 cases) were retrieved from our files. ICC was applied to previously Papanicolaou stained, routine fine needle aspirations specimens (64 cases) and cytocentrifuged, alcohol-fixed, fluid specimens (8 cases). FISH was performed on 6 histologic specimens. RESULTS: Overexpression of HER2/neu was seen in 7/22 breast cancers (31.8%), 3/18 pulmonary adenocarcinomas (16.6%), 2/5 colorectal adenocarcinomas (40%), 1/2 adenocarcinomas of the biliary system (50%), 1/3 thyroid papillary carcinomas (33.3%) and 1/3 prostate adenocarcinomas (33.3%). Sixteen cases had IHC in matched histologic specimens: 14 (87.5%) cases were concordant (11 negative and 3 positive in both specimens), 1 case was negative in the cytologic specimen and positive in the histologic specimen (with no amplification by FISH), and 1 case was positive in the cytologic specimen and negative in the histologic specimen (not informative by FISH). CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that overexpression of HER2/neu oncoprotein can be successfully detected in routine cytologic specimens, providing a simple, fast and cost-effective method of selecting patients for specific treatment.
Subject(s)
Biomarkers, Tumor/biosynthesis , Neoplasms/metabolism , Neoplasms/pathology , Receptor, ErbB-2/biosynthesis , Adenocarcinoma/metabolism , Adenocarcinoma/pathology , Biomarkers, Tumor/analysis , Carcinoma, Papillary/metabolism , Carcinoma, Papillary/pathology , Diagnosis, Differential , Female , Humans , Immunohistochemistry , In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence , Male , Predictive Value of Tests , Receptor, ErbB-2/analysis , Reproducibility of Results , Up-Regulation/physiologyABSTRACT
Atualmente relata-se a associaçäo do Actinomyces sp em pacientes portadoras do dispositivo intra-uterino (DIU), sendo possível seu diagnóstico morfológico através da análise de esfregaços cervicovaginais corados pelo método de Papanicolaou. No levantamento retrospectivo de 57.200 esfregaços citológicos consecutivos de pacientes provenientes de instituiçöes de saúde pública da Grande Säo Paulo, 269 (0,47%) usavam DIU. Na revisäo, 44 dos 269 casos (16,4%) apresentaram aglomerados bacterianos morfologicamente sugestivos de Actinomyces. Para confirmar a presença de Actinomyces israelii, as amostras sugestivas foram submetidas `a reaçäo de imunofluorescência direta, obtendo-se 29 casos positivos. O resultado indicou 66% de positividade em relaçäo ao método de Papanicolaou. Todos os casos sugestivos de Actinomyces foram também submetidos `a coloraçäo de metenamina-prata, apresentando o mesmo resultado da imunofluorescência