The reporting rates of atypical glandular cells and their HPV testing and histologic follow-up results: a comparison between ThinPrep and SurePath preparations from a single academic institution.

INTRODUCTION

The interpretation of atypical glandular cells (AGCs) remains a major challenge in gynecologic cytopathology using liquid-based cytology (LBC) (ThinPrep and SurePath). The comparison of performance of detecting glandular abnormalities using these 2 methods is lacking. We investigated the reporting rates of AGCs, human papillomavirus (HPV) testing, and histologic follow-up results in ThinPrep (TP) and SurePath (SP) samples.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

In our institution, both TP and SP were utilized during the period between January 2014 and June 2017. A retrospective search was conducted to identify patients with AGCs from 58,591 LBCs (27,041 TP and 31,550 SP). Roche (Pleasanton, CA) cobas HPV testing and histologic follow-up results were collected.

RESULTS

The reporting rates of AGCs for TP (0.7%) or SP (0.2%) were within the College of American Pathologists benchmark ranges, but the reporting for TP was significantly greater than that for SP (P < 0.0001). The HPV-positive rates were 26.0% and 19.4% in TP-AGCs and SP-AGCs, respectively, with no statistical significance. A total of 137 (74.9%) TP-AGCs and 54 (74%) SP-AGCs had histologic follow-up. High-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSIL)/squamous cell carcinoma were identified in 8.8% (12 of 137) of TP-AGCs and 13% (7 of 54) of SP-AGCs. Adenocarcinomas including endocervical and endometrial adenocarcinomas were identified in 9.5% (13 of 137) of TP-AGCs and 13% (7 of 54) of SP-AGCs. Together, 18.2% (25 of 137) of TP-AGCs and 25.9% (14 of 54) of SP-AGCs showed either HSIL or carcinoma in histologic follow-up, but with no statistical significance.

CONCLUSIONS

TP preparation detected considerably more AGCs than SP preparation. There was no statistical significant difference in HPV-positive rates or histologic follow-up outcomes between TP-detected AGCs and SP-detected AGCs.