title: Clinical significance of atypical glandular cells on Pap smears: experience from a region with a high incidence of cervical cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the histopathology of women who had atypical glandular cells (AGC) on Pap smears in a region with high incidence of cervical cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study was conducted at Chiang Mai University Hospital, Chiang Mai, Thailand. All women with AGC who underwent colposcopic and histopathologic evaluation between January 2002 and December 2008 were reviewed. Women with simultaneous diagnosis of squamous cell abnormality or prior history of cancer of any type were excluded.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sixty-three women with AGC Pap test had histologic follow-up during the study period. Mean age was 44.9 years (range, 31-72 years). Six (9.5%) women were nulliparous. Sixteen (25.4%) women were postmenopausal. The histopathologic results of these 63 women were as follows: cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) 2-3, 5 (7.9%); adenocarcinoma in situ (AIS), 3 (4.8%); endometrial cancer, 3 (4.8%); cervical cancer, 2 (3.2%); endometrial hyperplasia (EH), 1 (1.6%); and no lesions, 49 (77.8%). The prevalence of significant lesions (CIN 2-3, AIS, EH, and cancer) in women with atypical glandular cells, favor neoplasia (AGC-FN) was significantly higher than that in the atypical glandular cells, not other specified (AGC-NOS) group (41.2% and 15.2%, P = 0.02).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Reporting AGC in our population is clinically significant due to the high prevalence of underlying preinvasive and invasive diseases (22.2%). This subtype of the AGC category is a significant predictor of such lesions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
authors.forename: Pitkanya
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sawangsang
authors.forename: Charuwan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sae-Teng
authors.forename: Prapaporn
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Suprasert
authors.forename: Jatupol
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Srisomboon
authors.forename: Surapan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Khunamornpong
authors.forename: Chumnan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kietpeerakool
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology; D065006:Papanicolaou Test; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013785:Thailand / Q000453:epidemiology; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology*; D014626:Vaginal Smears