Diagnostics (Basel)
May 2024
Unlabelled: Serous effusion cytology is a pivotal diagnostic and staging tool in clinical pathology, valued for its simplicity and cost-effectiveness. Staining techniques such as Giemsa and Papanicolaou are foundational, yet the search for rapid and efficient alternatives continues. Our study assesses the efficacy of an in-house-developed BlueStain, a toluidine blue variant, within the International System for Reporting Serous Fluid Cytopathology (TIS), aiming to optimize diagnostic clarity and resource use.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) is a cornerstone technique for the initial assessment of breast lesions, offering a rapid and minimally invasive option for cytological evaluation. While FNACs can forego the need for core needle biopsies (CNBs), variations in technique, subjective interpretation, and intrinsic limitations present diagnostic challenges. The International Academy of Cytology (IAC) established the Yokohama system and is developing the WHO Reporting System for Breast Cytopathology jointly with IARC, to standardize diagnostic criteria, aiming to enhance diagnostic precision and consistency.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: The integration of whole slide imaging (WSI) and artificial intelligence (AI) with digital cytology has been growing gradually. Therefore, there is a need to evaluate the current state of digital cytology. This study aimed to determine the current landscape of digital cytology via a survey conducted as part of the American Society of Cytopathology (ASC) Digital Cytology White Paper Task Force.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe recently published WHO Reporting System for Pancreaticobiliary Cytopathology (World Health Organization [WHO] System) is an international approach to the standardized reporting of pancreaticobiliary cytopathology, updating the Papanicolaou Society of Cytopathology System for Reporting Pancreaticobiliary Cytology (PSC System). Significant changes were made to the categorization of benign neoplasms, intraductal neoplasms, mucinous cystic neoplasms, and malignant neoplasms considered low grade. Benign neoplasms, such as serous cystadenoma, categorized as Neoplastic: benign in the PSC system, are categorized as Benign/negative for malignancy in the WHO system.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis is the first systematic review and meta-analysis of The International System (TIS) for reporting serous fluid cytopathology. Our aims were to present the pooled malignancy rate of each TIS reporting category and the diagnostic accuracy of cytology using this system. Database search using a predefined strategy was followed by study selection, data extraction, study quality assessment, and statistical analysis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDigital cytology and artificial intelligence (AI) are gaining greater adoption in the cytology laboratory. However, peer-reviewed real-world data and literature are lacking in regard to the current clinical landscape. The American Society of Cytopathology in conjunction with the International Academy of Cytology and the Digital Pathology Association established a special task force comprising 20 members with expertise and/or interest in digital cytology.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDigital cytology and artificial intelligence (AI) are gaining greater adoption in the cytopathology laboratory. However, peer-reviewed real-world data and literature are lacking regarding the current clinical landscape. The American Society of Cytopathology in conjunction with the International Academy of Cytology and the Digital Pathology Association established a special task force comprising 20 members with expertise and/or interest in digital cytology.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Thyroid Bethesda Reporting System is a six-tiered system that aims to bring uniformity in reporting thyroid cytology and improve the communication with clinicians. The system has achieved its goal as a presurgical diagnostic method; however, it remains a screening method in the grey zone categories, namely atypia of undetermined significance (AUS) and follicular neoplasm (FN). The book recently released the 3rd edition, following the recent changes in thyroid pathology.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe International Academy of Cytology has joined with the International Agency for Research on Cancer to bring together a group of experts in lung cytopathology to develop a WHO Reporting System for Lung Cytopathology (WHO System). This System aims to improve and standardize the reporting of cytopathology, facilitate communication between cytopathologists and clinicians, and improve patient care. The WHO System describes 5 categories for reporting lung cytopathology: 'Insufficient/Inadequate/Nondiagnostic', 'Benign', 'Atypical', 'Suspicious for malignancy', and 'Malignant', each one with a clear descriptive term, a definition, a risk of malignancy, and a suggested management algorithm.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe World Health Organization (WHO), the International Academy of Cytology, and the International Agency for Research on Cancer have developed an approach to standardized reporting of pancreaticobiliary cytopathology. The WHO Reporting System for Pancreaticobiliary Cytopathology (WHO System) revises the Papanicolaou Society of Cytopathology (PSC) System for Reporting Pancreaticobiliary Cytology published in 2015 and replaces the 6 PSC categories with 7 categories: "Insufficient/Inadequate/Nondiagnostic"; "Benign/Negative for malignancy"; "Atypical"; "Pancreaticobiliary neoplasm, low risk/grade (PaN-low)"; "Pancreatic neoplasm, high risk/grade (PaN-High)"; "Suspicious for malignancy"; and "Malignant". In the PSC system, there is a single category for "Neoplastic" lesions that includes 2 groups, 1 for benign neoplasms and 1 named "Neoplastic-other", dominated by premalignant intraductal neoplasms primarily intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms and low-grade malignant neoplasms (pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PanNET) and solid pseudopapillary neoplasms (SPN).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAround 40% of ER+/HER2-breast carcinomas (BC) present mutations in the gene. Assessment of mutational status is required to identify patients eligible for treatment with PI3Kα inhibitors, with alpelisib currently the only approved tyrosine kinase inhibitor in this setting. U-PIK project aimed to conduct a ring trial to validate and implement the mutation testing in several Portuguese centers, decentralizing it and optimizing its quality at national level.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe World Health Organization (WHO), the International Academy of Cytology, and the International Agency for Research on Cancer, with expert contributors from around the world, present an international approach to standardized reporting of pancreaticobiliary cytopathology. This reporting system is one of the first in a series from various body sites that mirror the WHO Classification of Tumours series and provides an evidence-based terminology system with associated risk of malignancy and diagnostic management recommendation per diagnostic category. The WHO Reporting System for Pancreaticobiliary Cytopathology (WHO system) revises the Papanicolaou Society of Cytopathology (PSC) system for Reporting Pancreaticobiliary Cytology published in 2015 and replaces the six-tiered system with a seven-tiered system: "insufficient/inadequate/nondiagnostic"; "benign (negative for malignancy)," "atypical," "pancreaticobiliary neoplasm of low risk/low grade," "pancreatic neoplasm of high risk/high grade," "suspicious for malignancy," and "malignant.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Thyroid fine-needle aspiration (FNA) is a well-established technique in the cytology literature. Through the introduction of rapid stains in cytology practice, the ever-increasing utility of rapid on-site evaluation (ROSE) has strengthened the place of FNA as a primary diagnostic method in patient management. There are few stain variants available in the market for ROSE, namely Diff-Quik (DQ), Toluidine blue, and ultrafast Papanicolaou stains.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe International Academy of Cytology has joined with the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) to bring together a group of experts in lung cytopathology to develop a WHO Reporting System for Lung Cytopathology (WHO System). This WHO System defines five categories for reporting lung cytopathology, that is, "Insufficient"/"Inadequate"/"Non-diagnostic," "Benign," "Atypical," "Suspicious for malignancy," and "Malignant," each with a clear descriptive term for the category, a definition, a risk of malignancy and a suggested management algorithm. The key diagnostic cytopathology features of each of the lesions within each category have been established by consensus and will be presented more fully in a subsequent IARC e-book and published hard cover book.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe management of patients with breast cancer (BC) relies on the assessment of a defined set of well-established prognostic and predictive markers. Despite overlap, prognostic markers are used to assess the risk of recurrence and the likely benefit of systemic therapy, whereas predictive markers are used to determine the type of systemic therapy to be offered to an individual patient. In this review, we provide an update and present some challenges in the assessment of the main BC-specific molecular predictive markers, namely hormone receptors (oestrogen receptor [ER] and progesterone receptor [PR]), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), and KI67.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThyroid nodules are a common worldwide health problem and a diagnostic challenge for clinicians and cytopathologists. Follicular growth pattern constitutes the majority of thyroid lesions. Thyroid nodules can be neoplastic or non-neoplastic, and neoplastic nodules can be classified as benign, malignant, or gray zone.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFine-needle aspiration biopsies (FNABs) of the breast are minimally invasive procedures enabling the diagnosis of suspicious breast lesions. Unfortunately, they are often perceived as inferior to core-needle biopsies, namely because they are supposedly unable to differentiate between high-grade ductal carcinoma in situ and invasive carcinoma or provide material for ancillary testing. Several studies have shown, however, that FNAB samples, when handled properly, are indeed capable of providing sufficient and adequate material for ancillary testing, namely immunocytochemistry (ICC).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAims: Gene fusions assays are key for personalised treatments of advanced human cancers. Their implementation on cytological material requires a preliminary validation that may make use of cell line slides mimicking cytological samples. In this international multi-institutional study, gene fusion reference standards were developed and validated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAims: Although rare, malignant sarcomatoid breast tumours without evidence of epithelial differentiation comprise a diagnostic challenge with management implications. Earlier studies have generally considered these to be primary breast sarcomas; however, supporting evidence is lacking and management remains variable. This study aimed to provide an evidence-based approach to improve the consistency of diagnosis and management for such cases.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF