title: Assessment of the Utility of PAX8 Immunohistochemical Stain in Diagnosing Endocervical Glandular Lesions.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  PAX8, a member of the paired-box family of genes, is expressed in many tumors of Müllerian origin. However, it is unclear whether PAX8 is a useful marker in diagnosing endocervical glandular lesions because of limited data.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To study the expression of PAX8 in endocervical glandular lesions.
  
  
  METHODS
  We first studied a cohort of 29 cervical cone biopsies, followed by a second cohort of 17 cases of endocervical adenocarcinoma and 20 cases of uterine endometrioid adenocarcinoma.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the first cohort, we found that PAX8 was expressed in 23 of 23 (100%) benign endocervical glandular epithelium, 15 of 16 (94%) adenocarcinoma in situ, and 21 of 26 (81%) invasive endocervical adenocarcinoma specimens. In the second cohort, endocervical adenocarcinomas were positive for PAX8 in 14 of 17 (82%), strongly and diffusely positive for p16 in 14 of 17 (82%), positive for carcinoembryonic antigen in 12 of 17 (71%), positive for vimentin in 2 of 17 (12%), and positive for estrogen receptor in 7 of 17 cases (41%). Uterine endometrioid cancer was positive for PAX8 in 20 of 20 (100%), weakly and/or patchy positive for p16 in 17 of 20 (85%), positive for carcinoembryonic antigen in 2 of 20 (10%), positive for vimentin in 19 of 20 (95%), and positive for estrogen receptor in 20 of 20 cases (100%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  PAX8 is expressed in the majority of benign, premalignant, and malignant endocervical glandular lesions. The usefulness of PAX8 in differentiating endocervical from endometrial lesions is limited.
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine, Lake Success, New York (Drs L. Liang and S. X. Liang);
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: and the Department of Pathology, University of Arizona, Tucson (Dr Zheng).
authors.forename: Wenxin
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: the Department of Pathology, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston (Drs L. Liang and Liu);
authors.forename: Jinsong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine, Lake Success, New York (Drs L. Liang and S. X. Liang);
authors.forename: Sharon X
authors.initials: SX
authors.lastname: Liang
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000175:diagnosis*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis; D018269:Carcinoma, Endometrioid / Q000175:diagnosis*; D016889:Endometrial Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008875:Middle Aged; D000072636:PAX8 Transcription Factor; D051761:Paired Box Transcription Factors / Q000032:analysis / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002578:Uterine Cervical Dysplasia / Q000175:diagnosis*
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D000072636:PAX8 Transcription Factor; C083325:PAX8 protein, human; D051761:Paired Box Transcription Factors