Assessment of the Utility of PAX8 Immunohistochemical Stain in Diagnosing Endocervical Glandular Lesions

Context.-PAX8, a member of the paired-box family of genes, is expressed in many tumors of M ullerian origin. However, it is unclear whether PAX8 is a useful marker in diagnosing endocervical glandular lesions because of limited data. Objective.-To study the expression of PAX8 in endocervical glandular lesions. Design.-We first studied a cohort of 29 cervical cone biopsies, followed by a second cohort of 17 cases of endocervical adenocarcinoma and 20 cases of uterine endometrioid adenocarcinoma. Results.-In the first cohort, we found that PAX8 was expressed in 23 of 23 (100%) benign endocervical glandular epithelium, 15 of 16 (94%) adenocarcinoma in situ, and 21 of 26 (81%) invasive endocervical adenocarcinoma specimens. In the second cohort, endocervical adenocarcinomas were positive for PAX8 in 14 of 17 (82%), strongly and diffusely positive for p16 in 14 of 17 (82%), positive for carcinoembryonic antigen in 12 of 17 (71%), positive for vimentin in 2 of 17 (12%), and positive for estrogen receptor in 7 of 17 cases (41%). Uterine endometrioid cancer was positive for PAX8 in 20 of 20 (100%), weakly and/or patchy positive for p16 in 17 of 20 (85%), positive for carcinoembryonic antigen in 2 of 20 (10%), positive for vimentin in 19 of 20 (95%), and positive for estrogen receptor in 20 of 20 cases (100%). Conclusions.-PAX8 is expressed in the majority of benign, premalignant, and malignant endocervical glandular lesions. The usefulness of PAX8 in differentiating endocervical from endometrial lesions is limited.