2009 Volume 48 Issue 1 Pages 12-16
Objective : We studied the intracytoplasmic lumina (ICL) using urine cytology to evaluate its usefulness in diagnosing urothelial carcinoma.
Study Design : Subjects were 63 consecutive cases of urothelial carcinoma initially diagnosed by histopathological examination and 22 cases of nontumor lesions from our hospital files. Cytological and histopathological specimens corresponded only chronologically. Type A ICLs containing secretory material in the lumen were examined and type B ICL excluded. Cases were regarded as ICL-positive when two or more ICLs were observed on a cytological specimen or two or more ICLs were observed in a high-power field on a histological section.
Results : In urothelial carcinoma cases, atypical cells with type A ICLs were observed in 16 of 63 cases (25.4%) in cytological specimens and in 17 of 63 (27.0%) in histological specimens. In nontumor lesion cases, ICLs were detected in one of 22 cases (4.5%) in histological specimens but not in cytological specimens. The number of ICL-positive cases was thus significantly higher in cytologically determined urothelial carcinoma than non-tumor lesions. ICLs in 12 of 27 high-grade urothelial carcinoma cases (44.4%) were significantly more frequently detected than in low-grade urothelial carcinoma (4 of 36 cases, 11.1%) in cytology.
Conclusion : Type A ICL is an important cytological diagnostic hallmark of urothelial carcinoma.
