title: Vanishing endometrial carcinoma.
abstract: Three cases of histologically proven endometrial carcinoma (EmCa) demonstrated no residual carcinoma or biopsy site on the subsequent hysterectomy specimen. The shared identity of both endometrial biopsy and hysterectomy specimen was proven, and specimen misidentification was excluded in all 3 cases through successful DNA profiling. Just as vanishing cancer in prostatic carcinoma has recently been defined and accepted, it is suggested that vanishing EmCa can also be defined using specific pathological and clinical criteria. DNA profiling may serve to confirm the diagnosis. Vanishing EmCa is only a small subset within hysterectomy specimens that show no EmCa after a histological diagnosis of EmCa. The concept of vanishing EmCa may be useful in both clinical and medicolegal practice.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Valérie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Dubé
authors.forename: Denis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Macdonald
authors.forename: Diane J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Allingham-Hawkins
authors.forename: Suzanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kamel-Reid
authors.forename: Terence J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Colgan
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D000368:Aged; D016172:DNA Fingerprinting; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D016889:Endometrial Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats / Q000235:genetics; D008875:Middle Aged; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D004273:DNA, Neoplasm