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Background/Purpose: Efforts were made to explore the influence of diagnostic timing for cancer-associated thromboembolic events on survival of ovarian cancer patients. Methods: We reviewed the medical records of 75 ovarian cancer patients with thromboembolism and evaluated the prognostic factors affecting disease-free survival and overall survival. Results: These 75 patients were classified into two categories by the diagnostic timing of the thromboembolism, during (33 cases) and after (42 cases) initial diagnosis of ovarian cancer groups. The diagnostic timing of thromboembolism was not related to disease-free survival or overall survival of the studied population. Advanced disease stage, clear cell histology, interval debulking surgery, no recurrence/persistence of ovarian cancer, and patients treated with anticoagulant(s) treatment >3 months were associated with the disease-free survival. Advanced disease stage, clear cell histology, body mass index (BMI) ≥24 kg/m2 at the diagnosis of ovarian cancer, and no recurrence/persistence of ovarian cancer influenced the overall survival. In the subgroup analysis, compared to the after initial ovarian cancer diagnosis group, patients with stage I/II disease, BMI

Since government-provided annual cervical cytology testing for all Taiwanese women aged 30 years or older became available in 1995, both cervical cancer incidence and death have decreased significantly. However, with the 2018 introduction of the national immunization program for human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination in all schoolgirls aged 13–15 years old, the positive predictive value of cytology testing is expected to decrease with rising vaccination rates, and therefore a transition to more sensitive HPV-based testing may be needed. This position paper, derived from discussions by a panel of experts in cervical cancer screening, provides short-, medium-, and long-term policy recommendations to manage the transition between cervical screening methods for Taiwan. The recommendations include concrete suggestions regarding testing procedures, standards, accreditation, monitoring, promotion, and implementation. It is hoped that comprehensive preparation and management of this transition will enable Taiwan to repeat the previous successes of the cervical cytology testing program.

Objective: To report two cases of for primary peritoneal serous carcinoma (PPSC) to present with gastrointestinal manifestations that mimic colorectal cancer. Case report: There were two patients with initial presentations of fatigue with iron deficiency anemia, and tenesmus with bloody stool. Tumors of the ascending colon and rectum were detected by colonofiberoscope, and pathologic reports of tumor biopsies revealed adenocarcinoma of suspected gynecologic origin. Both patients underwent optimal debulking surgery without macroscopic residual tumor, and then received adjuvant carboplatin and paclitaxel chemotherapy with bevacizumab. Conclusions: PPSC can clinically present like primary colorectal carcinoma. The differential diagnosis requires special staining of several markers for tumor tissues.

Objective: To evaluate the clinical presentations, diagnosis, management, and outcomes of torsion of the pedunculated subserous uterine leiomyoma. Materials and methods: We retrospectively reviewed medical records of patients with subserous uterine leiomyomas undergoing surgeries at National Taiwan University Hospital from January 2001 to December 2015. Results: Five cases of torsion of pedunculated subserous uterine leiomyoma were identified. All presented with sudden onset abdominal pain. Two patients received emergent surgeries, the other three cases received scheduled surgeries. The postoperative courses of these five women were uneventful without sequelae. Conclusions: Torsion of pedunculated subserous uterine leiomyoma is rare. Accurately diagnosing it prior to surgery is a major challenge. It should be one of the differential diagnosis in patients with uterine leiomyoma presenting with acute abdomen. Keywords: Abdominal pain, Emergency, Myomectomy, Subserous leiomyoma, Torsion

Objective: To report a case and review published cases of large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (LCNEC) of the endometrium. Case report: A 51-year-old female presented with postmenopausal bleeding and a palpable pelvic mass. An endometrial biopsy showed a malignant mixed Mullerian tumor (MMMT). Suboptimal debulking surgery was performed. The final pathology revealed stage IVB endometrial LCNEC. Post-operative adjuvant chemotherapy with cisplatin and etoposide was administered. Two months after discontinuing adjuvant chemotherapy, salvage chemotherapy with cisplatin and ifosfamide was administered due to tumor progression; however, obstructive ileus was noted 2 months later. A segmental small bowel resection and palliative colostomy were performed. She died secondary to a post-operative infection 8 days after the operation. Conclusion: Endometrial LCNEC is a rare but aggressive disease. If diagnosed, combined therapies, including staging surgery, following by adjuvant radiotherapy and chemotherapy, should be performed.

Objective: To evaluate the influence of age, screening interval, and histologic type on the effect of Pap smears in cervical cancer screening. Materials and methods: Data were retrieved from the Taiwan National Cancer Registry and Cervical Cancer Screening Registration System for the period from 2002 to 2010. Age, Pap smear interval, FIGO stage, and histology were further analyzed. Results: A total of 12,294 women with cervical cancer were enrolled, including 10,040 with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), 1720 with adenocarcinoma (ADC), 401 with adenosquamous carcinoma (ASC), and 133 with small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (SMC). Women who had a Pap smear at an interval of

Objective: To report a case of isolated omental peritoneal carcinoma without peritoneal carcinomatosis. Case report: A 60-year-old female with abdominal distention was found to have a pelvic mass. Under the impression of ovarian cancer, laparotomy was performed only to show one isolated mass over omentum. Serial examination and pathology study including immunochemical staining indicated primary peritoneal serous carcinoma. Conclusion: Isolated omental peritoneal carcinoma without peritoneal carcinomatosis and ascites is rare, and whether this represented a unique entity with different chemotherapy response and treatment outcome from the disseminated form of primary peritoneal carcinoma needs to be reviewed in the future.

Objective: To investigate the various genotypes of human papillomavirus (HPV) in Taiwanese women patients with abnormal cervical cytology and analyze the associations between HPV types, cervical preinvasive lesions, and the medical characteristics of these patients. Materials and Methods: We performed HPV genotyping GeneChip procedures and colposcopies for 784 women with abnormal Papanicolaou smears. The characteristics of the patients and the status of the HPV infection were correlated. Results: A total of 706 (90.1%) of the 784 women were positive for HPV infection, including 641 patients with high-risk HPV (HR-HPV). Among the patients with high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSILs), the average age of the 273 patients with other HR-HPV types (48.6 ± 13.8 years) was significantly older than the 222 patients infected with HPV 16/18 (39.8 ± 11.8 years) (p

Objective: Signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT)1 is a key tumor suppressor, which is always methylated in a variety of human cancers. However, nonspecific primers for the detection of specific promoter hypermethylation of STAT1 gene can lead to false-positive or false-negative results for gene methylation. Materials and Methods: We designed new primers for the detection of STAT1 methylation and compared the sensitivities and specificities of these new primers with prior published primers by methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) from ovarian clear cell carcinomas. The mRNA expression levels of STAT1 in these cancerous tissues were also evaluated by reverse-transcriptase PCR and correlated with the results of promoter methylation of STAT1 gene. Results: Nine (39%) of the 23 samples detected by the new primers and 13 samples (56%) detected by prior published primers showed STAT1 methylation. A direct DNA sequencing test revealed that four of the 13 samples (30.8%) showed false positivity for STAT1 methylation using the prior published primers. In contrast, none of the nine samples was false-positive for the detection of STAT1 methylation using the new primers. The new primers for the detection of STAT1 methylation showed 100% specificity and 100% sensitivity without false positivity. Conclusion: Specific primers for methylation-specific PCR are mandatory for the accurate detection of STAT1 gene methylation. Besides, specific primers can generate correct interpretation of STAT1 gene methylation, and its correlation with the clinicopathological characteristics and outcome of cancer patients.

Endometrial hyperplasia is considered a precursor of endometrial carcinoma, but concurrent endometrial carcinoma in patients with endometrial hyperplasia is seen frequently. Our aim was to examine the risk factors for coexisting endometrial carcinoma in patients with endometrial hyperplasia. Methods: Between January 1996 and September 2006, 77 patients who underwent hysterectomy for endometrial hyperplasia were enrolled retrospectively. We divided the patients into non-endometrial carcinoma and endometrial carcinoma groups, depending on the final pathology of hysterectomy and analyzed the clinical variables of these patients. Results: The prevalence rate of concurrent endometrial carcinoma in patients with endometrial hyperplasia was 26%. Those with atypical endometrial hyperplasia had a higher rate of coexisting endometrial carcinoma (54%). In addition to cytologic atypia, body mass index (BMI) was another risk factor. All the patients with concomitant endometrial carcinoma had at least one risk factor, but almost 50% of the cases in the non-endometrial group had no risk factors. Half of the women with cytological atypia and BMI > 25 had coexisting endometrial carcinoma. Conclusion: When patients are diagnosed with endometrial hyperplasia, surgical intervention should be performed in those with cytological atypia and higher BMI because of the possibility of coexisting endometrial carcinoma.

The formation of pseudoaneurysms in patients with gynecologic malignancies is rare. We describe a patient with locally advanced cervical cancer who had life-threatening rectal bleeding due to a ruptured pseudoaneurysm of the right external iliac artery, which was successfully treated by emergent endovascular covered stent placement. This 56-year-old woman had received concurrent chemoradiation, salvage hysterectomy and systemic chemotherapy for advanced cervical cancer. About 25 months after her diagnosis of cervical cancer, she suffered from acute life-threatening rectal bleeding. Angiography revealed active extravasation from a pseudoaneurysm of the right external iliac artery. A covered stent was placed across the pseudoaneurysm via an endovascular approach to stop the bleeding. The patient recovered well without any sequelae. We believe that this technique might also be useful in other irradiated gynecologic cancer patients, especially when direct surgical repair is difficult to perform due to pelvic irradiation or tumor recurrence.

Globally, cervical cancer is one of the most common cancers in women, representing up to 25% of all female cancers, and is the most common cancer in developing countries. It kills around 250,000 women every year worldwide and around 1,000 in Taiwan. Cervical cancer is largely preventable through screening programs to diagnose cervical lesions that may progress to invasive cancer. It has recently been definitively linked to genital human papillomavirus (HPV) infections. HPV fulfills the criteria for a carcinogenic agent defined by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. More than 200 types of HPV have been identified by DNA sequence data, and 85 HPV genotypes have been well characterized to date. HPV can infect the basal epithelial cells of the skin or inner tissue linings and is, accordingly, categorized as either cutaneous or mucosal. Genital HPV infections are now recognized as a major risk factor in at least 95% of cervical cancers. Thirty different HPV genotypes have been identified as causative of sexually transmitted diseases, most of which induce lesions in the cervix, vagina, vulva, penis, and anus. The main aim of this review is to evaluate the current literature regarding the relationship between HPV and cervical neoplasm, host immune responses to HPV, and the current status of preventive and therapeutic HPV vaccines.

Objective: Mature cystic teratoma with gliomatosis peritonei is an uncommon condition, with the implantation of nodules of mature glial tissue within the peritoneal cavity, which may be mistaken for peritoneal carcinomatosis or peritoneal tuberculosis. Here, we present a case of mature cystic teratoma with mature gliomatosis peritonei. Case Report: A 36-year-old woman had been suffering from progressive abdominal distension for 2 months. Sonography revealed a heterogeneous echo-complex mass measuring 15 × 12.7 × 10 cm in the pelvis. Computed tomography scan revealed a pelvic mass with calcification in the peritoneal cavity. A right ovarian tumor was found at laparotomy, and right salpingo-oophorectomy was performed. Miliary tumors were also noted on the omentum and peritoneal surfaces. Omentectomy and peritoneal biopsy were performed. The pathology report showed a mature cystic teratoma with mature gliomatosis peritonei. The patient was followed-up for 1 year, with no evidence of recurrence up to the time of writing. Conclusion: Gliomatosis peritonei is considered to be a benign lesion accompanying cystic teratoma. Extensive sampling is essential to exclude the presence of immature elements, which may imply a poor prognosis and require aggressive therapy.

Objective: Inversion of the uterus is indeed a rarity for a gynecologist. The puerperal variety is associated with pregnancy, including term pregnancy and abortion. The nonpuerperal condition may be tumor-induced or idiopathic. We present a nonpuerperal uterine inversion and discuss a reasonable plan for its management Case Report: A 42-year-old, unmarried woman without sexual experience and any systemic diseases noted a mass outside of the vaginal introitus combined with massive vaginal bleeding and abdominal pain of sudden onset after taking laxative agents for colonoscopic preparation. Then she had voiding difficulty with distended bladder. A suprapubic urinary catheter was inserted and 800 mL urine was drained out. The patient received emergency tumor resection and subtotal hysterectomy. The diagnosis of uterine inversion was confirmed during operation. The postoperative course was uneventful and she was discharged without complication. Conclusion: Nonpuerperal inversion of the uterus is rarely encountered by gynecologists. Diagnosis of uterine inversion is often not easy and imaging studies might be helpful. Surgical treatment is the method of choice in nonpuerperal uterine inversion.

Objective: Laminaria placement is seldom thought to be associated with postabortal sepsis Case Report: A nulliparous woman presented with high fever, low blood pressure, and signs of infection during artificial legal abortion with laminaria placement for cervical dilatation. Broad-spectrum antibiotics were given. Cultures of blood, placenta, and arterial line all yielded Enterobacter cloacae. The patient responded to antibiotics and supportive care. Conclusion: The use of laminaria still places patients at risk for infection because there is a certain risk of ascending colonization with potentially pathogenic microorganisms from the vaginal and cervical microflora, as in our patient. Surgical disinfection, prophylactic antibiotics, and shortened duration of laminaria placement are helpful to prevent infectious insult. Once signs of infection are noted, physicians should take action as soon as possible, such as initiating broad-spectrum antibiotics and intensive care.