Morphometric analysis of neoplastic cell clusters in high-grade serous ovarian cancer ascites identifies a promising prognostic factor: a retrospective study
Abstract High-grade serous carcinoma of the ovary is the most frequent intraperitoneal malignancy in women. It is associated with a poor prognostic outcome owing to the late appearance of clinical signs leading to a delayed diagnosis, and with resistance to platinum-based chemotherapy. One of the cl...
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BMC
2025-04-01
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| Series: | Journal of Ovarian Research |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s13048-025-01653-y |
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| author | Benoît Thibault Romina D’Angelo Samy Rigal Mélanie White-Koning Guillaume Bataillon Julie Guillermet-Guibert Céline Basset |
| author_facet | Benoît Thibault Romina D’Angelo Samy Rigal Mélanie White-Koning Guillaume Bataillon Julie Guillermet-Guibert Céline Basset |
| author_sort | Benoît Thibault |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract High-grade serous carcinoma of the ovary is the most frequent intraperitoneal malignancy in women. It is associated with a poor prognostic outcome owing to the late appearance of clinical signs leading to a delayed diagnosis, and with resistance to platinum-based chemotherapy. One of the clinical signs is the development of ascites. The detection of neoplastic cells in ascites fluid is important as it indicates tumor progression and is associated with shorter survival. Microscopic cytospin analysis of this fluid reveals the cytological and architectural features of the neoplastic cells, allowing the pathologist to identify rapidly the malignancy and the histologic type. In association with immunocytochemistry, this process ensures a definite diagnosis and provides a specific etiology. Our objective was to provide proof-of-principle that the automatized analysis of general cytomorphological criteria, such as carcinomatous cell clustering, in malignant ascites fluid is of prognostic value in high-grade serous carcinoma. We performed a retrospective analysis of the ascites fluid of 24 advanced-stage high-grade serous ovarian cancer patients naïve of treatment. We found that the low number of neoplastic cell clusters in fluid was significantly associated with shorter overall and progression-free survival after adjusting for WHO performance status, Sugarbaker score, age and BMI. These results were independent of the peritoneal implantation of neoplastic cells. We believe this is a promising strategy to improve high-grade serous carcinoma diagnostics using a more informative but simple analysis of ascites tumor cell morphology. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-c40e4db4f49d46ddb1325efc5badae5e |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1757-2215 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
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| series | Journal of Ovarian Research |
| spelling | doaj-art-c40e4db4f49d46ddb1325efc5badae5e2025-08-20T02:17:02ZengBMCJournal of Ovarian Research1757-22152025-04-011811910.1186/s13048-025-01653-yMorphometric analysis of neoplastic cell clusters in high-grade serous ovarian cancer ascites identifies a promising prognostic factor: a retrospective studyBenoît Thibault0Romina D’Angelo1Samy Rigal2Mélanie White-Koning3Guillaume Bataillon4Julie Guillermet-Guibert5Céline Basset6Centre de Recherches en Cancérologie de Toulouse, CRCT, Université de Toulouse, Inserm, CNRSCentre de Recherches en Cancérologie de Toulouse, CRCT, Université de Toulouse, Inserm, CNRSCentre de Recherches en Cancérologie de Toulouse, CRCT, Université de Toulouse, Inserm, CNRSCentre de Recherches en Cancérologie de Toulouse, CRCT, Université de Toulouse, Inserm, CNRSCentre de Recherches en Cancérologie de Toulouse, CRCT, Université de Toulouse, Inserm, CNRSCentre de Recherches en Cancérologie de Toulouse, CRCT, Université de Toulouse, Inserm, CNRSCentre de Recherches en Cancérologie de Toulouse, CRCT, Université de Toulouse, Inserm, CNRSAbstract High-grade serous carcinoma of the ovary is the most frequent intraperitoneal malignancy in women. It is associated with a poor prognostic outcome owing to the late appearance of clinical signs leading to a delayed diagnosis, and with resistance to platinum-based chemotherapy. One of the clinical signs is the development of ascites. The detection of neoplastic cells in ascites fluid is important as it indicates tumor progression and is associated with shorter survival. Microscopic cytospin analysis of this fluid reveals the cytological and architectural features of the neoplastic cells, allowing the pathologist to identify rapidly the malignancy and the histologic type. In association with immunocytochemistry, this process ensures a definite diagnosis and provides a specific etiology. Our objective was to provide proof-of-principle that the automatized analysis of general cytomorphological criteria, such as carcinomatous cell clustering, in malignant ascites fluid is of prognostic value in high-grade serous carcinoma. We performed a retrospective analysis of the ascites fluid of 24 advanced-stage high-grade serous ovarian cancer patients naïve of treatment. We found that the low number of neoplastic cell clusters in fluid was significantly associated with shorter overall and progression-free survival after adjusting for WHO performance status, Sugarbaker score, age and BMI. These results were independent of the peritoneal implantation of neoplastic cells. We believe this is a promising strategy to improve high-grade serous carcinoma diagnostics using a more informative but simple analysis of ascites tumor cell morphology.https://doi.org/10.1186/s13048-025-01653-yOvarian cancerAscitesCell clusteringPeritoneal diseasePrognostic factorCytomorphology |
| spellingShingle | Benoît Thibault Romina D’Angelo Samy Rigal Mélanie White-Koning Guillaume Bataillon Julie Guillermet-Guibert Céline Basset Morphometric analysis of neoplastic cell clusters in high-grade serous ovarian cancer ascites identifies a promising prognostic factor: a retrospective study Journal of Ovarian Research Ovarian cancer Ascites Cell clustering Peritoneal disease Prognostic factor Cytomorphology |
| title | Morphometric analysis of neoplastic cell clusters in high-grade serous ovarian cancer ascites identifies a promising prognostic factor: a retrospective study |
| title_full | Morphometric analysis of neoplastic cell clusters in high-grade serous ovarian cancer ascites identifies a promising prognostic factor: a retrospective study |
| title_fullStr | Morphometric analysis of neoplastic cell clusters in high-grade serous ovarian cancer ascites identifies a promising prognostic factor: a retrospective study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Morphometric analysis of neoplastic cell clusters in high-grade serous ovarian cancer ascites identifies a promising prognostic factor: a retrospective study |
| title_short | Morphometric analysis of neoplastic cell clusters in high-grade serous ovarian cancer ascites identifies a promising prognostic factor: a retrospective study |
| title_sort | morphometric analysis of neoplastic cell clusters in high grade serous ovarian cancer ascites identifies a promising prognostic factor a retrospective study |
| topic | Ovarian cancer Ascites Cell clustering Peritoneal disease Prognostic factor Cytomorphology |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s13048-025-01653-y |
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