Endometrial carcinomas with a "serous" component in young women are enriched for DNA mismatch repair deficiency, Lynch syndrome, and POLE exonuclease domain mutations Journal Article


Authors: Conlon, N.; Da Cruz Paula, A.; Ashley, C. W.; Segura, S.; De Brot, L.; da Silva, E. M.; Soslow, R. A.; Weigelt, B.; DeLair, D. F.
Article Title: Endometrial carcinomas with a "serous" component in young women are enriched for DNA mismatch repair deficiency, Lynch syndrome, and POLE exonuclease domain mutations
Abstract: Endometrial carcinoma (EC), as described by Bokhman, has historically been classified as Type I (low-grade, hormone-dependant, young patients, good prognosis) or Type II (high-grade, hormone-independent, older patients, poor prognosis). This classification is no longer pragmatic, however, as EC is a much more heterogeneous disease. Four molecular subtypes of EC were identified by The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), and subsequent studies have demonstrated its utility in predicting prognosis. While endometrial serous carcinoma (ESC), the prototypical Type II EC, largely occurs in older women, younger women with ESC were not accounted for in the Bokhman model and were underrepresented in the TCGA study. We hypothesized that a subset of ESCs in young patients do not represent bona fide serous carcinomas but rather high-grade endometrioid carcinomas mimicking a serous phenotype. We identified ESCs and mixed endometrioid/serous carcinomas in women <60 years (n=37), and analyzed their clinical, morphologic, immunohistochemical, and molecular characteristics. Sixteen percent showed mismatch repair deficiency (MMR-D) and 11% were diagnosed with Lynch syndrome. Additionally, 16% of cases tested harbored a hotspot POLE exonuclease domain mutation (POLE-EDM). Morphologically, 47% of tumors showed confirmatory endometrioid features, including atypical hyperplasia, a low-grade endometrioid carcinoma component, or squamous differentiation. Clinically, the overall survival in patients with MMR-D and POLE-EDM was significantly better than that of patients without these features (P=0.0329). In conclusion, ESCs in young patients comprise a heterogeneous group of tumors, demonstrating diverse clinical, immunohistochemical, morphologic, and molecular features which have implications for prognosis and adjuvant therapy.
Journal Title: American Journal of Surgical Pathology
Volume: 44
Issue: 5
ISSN: 0147-5185
Publisher: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins  
Date Published: 2020-05-01
Start Page: 641
End Page: 648
Language: English
DOI: 10.1097/pas.0000000000001461
PUBMED: 32205482
PROVIDER: scopus
PMCID: PMC7156312
DOI/URL:
Notes: Article -- Source: Scopus
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MSK Authors
  1. Robert Soslow
    797 Soslow
  2. Deborah F DeLair
    106 DeLair
  3. Niamh Conlon
    28 Conlon
  4. Britta Weigelt
    641 Weigelt
  5. Sheila Elaika Segura
    12 Segura
  6. Charles Warner Ashley
    13 Ashley