Assessment of cytologic differentiation in high‐grade pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms: A multi‐institutional study

BACKGROUNDWell‐differentiated (WD) and poorly differentiated (PD) pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms are biologically distinct entities with different therapies and prognoses. WD neoplasms with elevated proliferation (Ki‐67 > 20%) have been shown to have an overlapping histology with PD neuroendocrine carcinomas. This study compared expert cytomorphologic assessments of differentiation in pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms in a multi‐institutional study.METHODSFine‐needle aspiration specimens from pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms (grade 2 [G2] and grade 3 [G3] according to the 2017 World Health Organization classification; n = 72) were diagnosed independently by 3 cytopathologists as WD or PD (poorly differentiated large cell type [PD‐L] or poorly differentiated small cell type [PD‐S]) purely on the basis of cytomorphology. Their diagnoses were compared with a final classification supported by immunohistochemistry (retinoblastoma (RB), death domain‐ associated protein (DAXX), and α thalassemia/mental retardation syndrome X‐linked (ATRX) protein expression), targeted mutation analysis (Memorial Sloan Kettering–Integrated Mutation Profiling of Actionable Cancer Targets), prior history of G1/G2 histology, and consensus.RESULTSThe rate of agreement on differentiation was 38% (15 WD cases and 12 PD cases) for the 70 cases included (55 WD cases [n = 19 G2, n = 31 G3, and n = 5 could not be graded] and 15 PD cases [n = 6 PD‐S, n = 6 PD‐L, and n = 3 PD, not otherwise specified). Two cases could not be classified by the employed methods. PD carcinomas had a higher rate of agreement (10 of 15 [67%]) than WD neoplasms (15 of 55 [27%]). Round nuclei and plasmacytoid cells were associated with agreement for WD cases, whereas apoptosis and angulated nuclei were associated with disagreement. Necrosis was associated with agreement for PD cases.CONCLUSIONSA purely morphologic approach to the distinction between G2 and G3 pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms based on cytology can be challenging, with disagreement found among experienced cytopathologists. Cancer Cytopathol 2018;126:44‐53. © 2017 American Cancer Society.