title: Cytologic studies of the fallopian tube in patients undergoing salpingo-oophorectomy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Mounting evidence suggests the fallopian tube as the origin for ovarian high grade serous carcinoma (HGSC). We attempted to identify the tubal cytological features that allow us to distinguish malignant from benign conditions.
  
  
  METHODS
  Tubal specimens (n = 56) were collected from patients who underwent bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy (BSO) due to various clinical indications. A standard procedure to collect fallopian tube brushings from freshly received surgical specimens was developed. Cytological diagnoses were classified into three categories: benign, atypical, and suspicious for malignancy/malignant. Cytological variables of individual cells and epithelia were subjected to statistical analysis. The fallopian tube histology was used as diagnostic reference for confirmation of cytology diagnosis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among the 56 fallopian tube specimens, 2 (3.7 %) showed inadequate cellularity preventing further evaluation, 11 (20.4 %) were diagnosed as malignant or suspicious of malignancy, 7 were atypical, and 36 were benign. The presence of three dimensional clusters (p< 0.0001, Fisher's Exact Test), or prominent nucleoli (p= 0.0252, Fisher Exact test) was highly correlated with the diagnosis of malignancy. The suspicious malignant/malignant cytological diagnosis was also highly correlated with presence of HGSC with or without serous tubal intraepithelial carcinoma (STIC).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Tubal cytology may be useful for ovarian cancer screening and early detection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson, AZ 85724 USA.
authors.forename: Hao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson, AZ 85724 USA.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Klein
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson, AZ 85724 USA.
authors.forename: Stacy
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Arnold
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson, AZ 85724 USA ; University of Arizona Cancer Center, Tucson, AZ 85724 USA.
authors.forename: Setsuko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chambers
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390 USA ; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390 USA.
authors.forename: Wenxin
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zheng
keywords: Atypical cytology; Early detection; High-grade serous carcinoma; Serous tubal intraepithelial carcinoma; Tubal cytology