PurposeUterine serous carcinoma is a rare, aggressive variant of endometrial cancer. Trastuzumab is a humanized monoclonal antibody that targets human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)/neu, a receptor overexpressed in 30% of uterine serous carcinoma. This multicenter, randomized phase II trial compared carboplatin-paclitaxel with and without trastuzumab in patients with advanced or recurrent uterine serous carcinoma who overexpress HER2/neu.MethodsEligible patients had primary stage III or IV or recurrent HER2/neu-positive disease. Participants were randomly assigned to receive carboplatin-paclitaxel (control arm) for six cycles with or without intravenous trastuzumab (experimental arm) until progression or unacceptable toxicity. The primary end point was progression-free survival, which was assessed for differences between treatment arms via one-sided log-rank tests.ResultsFrom August 2011 to March 2017, 61 patients were randomly assigned. Forty progression-free survival–related events occurred a...

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Randomized Phase II Trial of Carboplatin-Paclitaxel Versus Carboplatin-Paclitaxel-Trastuzumab in Uterine Serous Carcinomas That Overexpress Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2/neu

Publisher Summary Intercellular junctions are a set of structurally complex membrane components that are incorporated into the general plasma membrane at the sites of close cell-to-cell apposition. The primary function of some types of junctions, such as gap junctions, remains obscure; this is unfortunate because a considerable body of information on the occurrence, biochemical ultrastructure, and physical properties of junctions suggests that they probably do play a central role in important biological phenomena. The quantitative evaluations of the occurrence of junctions are subjective in most of the reports, although there are a few reports in which the data were obtained by quantitative electron microscopy techniques. There are a number of ways in which genes of neoplastic transformation may influence intercellular junction structure and function. Additional research is required to define the contribution of tumor gene products to the pathogenesis of junctional abnormalities in tumors and to elucidate the roles, if any, of these cell membrane defects in malignant growth.

The structure and function of intercellular junctions in cancer.

https://www.gynecologiconcology-online.net/article/0090-8258(92)90130-B/pdf

Uterine papillary serous carcinoma: A study on 108 cases with emphasis on the prognostic significance of associated endometrioid carcinoma, absence of invasion, and concomitant ovarian carcinoma

Adenocarcinoma of the endometrium: Analysis of 256 cases with carcinoma limited to the uterine corpus: Pathology review and analysis of prognostic variables☆☆☆

Purpose: Uterine-serous-carcinoma (USC) is an aggressive variant of endometrial cancer On the basis of preliminary results of a multicenter, randomized phase II trial, trastuzumab (T), a humanized-mAb targeting Her2/Neu, in combination with carboplatin/paclitaxel (C/P), is recognized as an alternative in treating advanced/recurrent HER2/Neu-positive USC We report the updated survival analysis of NCT01367002 Patients and Methods: Eligible patients had stage III to IV or recurrent disease Participants were randomized 1:1 to receive C/P for six cycles ± T followed by maintenance T until progression or toxicity Progression-free survival (PFS) was the primary endpoint; overall survival (OS) and toxicity were secondary endpoints Results: Sixty-one patients were randomized After a median-follow-up of 259 months, 43 progressions and 38 deaths occurred among 58 evaluable patients Updated median-PFS continued to favor the T-arm, with medians of 80 months versus 129 months in the control and T-arms (HR = 046; 90% CI, 028–076; P = 0005) Median-PFS was 93 months versus 177 months among 41 patients with stage III to IV disease undergoing primary treatment (HR = 044; 90% CI, 023–083; P = 0015), and 70 months versus 92 months among 17 patients with recurrent disease (HR = 012; 90% CI, 003–048; P = 0004) OS was higher in the T compared with the control arm, with medians of 296 months versus 244 months (HR = 058; 90% CI, 034–099; P = 0046) The benefit was most notable in those with stage III to IV disease, with survival median not reached in the T-arm versus 244 months in the control arm (HR = 049; 90% CI, 025–097; P = 0041) Toxicity was not different between arms Conclusions: Addition of T to C/P increased PFS and OS in women with advanced/recurrent HER2/Neu-positive USC, with the greatest benefit seen for the treatment of stage III to IV disease

/pdf/randomized-phase-ii-trial-of-carboplatin-paclitaxel-compared-4c1t6oxp7z.pdf

Randomized Phase II Trial of Carboplatin-Paclitaxel Compared with Carboplatin-Paclitaxel-Trastuzumab in Advanced (Stage III-IV) or Recurrent Uterine Serous Carcinomas that Overexpress Her2/Neu (NCT01367002): Updated Overall Survival Analysis.

A rare case of papillary adenocarcinoma of the endometrium with psammoma bodies is reported. Essentially two types of cells constituted the tumor. One type, which was endometrioid in appearance, lined the large glandular structures and their papillary folds. The other type formed small glands and the relatively solid areas. Ultrastructurally, the latter cells appeared undifferentiated and contained prominent juxtanuclear fibrillary aggregates. Our observations suggest that the cytoplasmic fibrils probably play an important role in psammoma body formation.

https://acsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/1097-0142%28197205%2929%3A5%3C1326%3A%3AAID-CNCR2820290530%3E3.0.CO%3B2-X

Donald Arthur Morgan

Papers

Papillary adenocarcinoma of endometrium with psammoma bodies. Histology and fine structure.