Cytopathology Section

Cytopathology Staff

Andrea D. Abati, M.D.
Chief, Cytopathology Section
Laboratory of Pathology
Building 10, Room 2A19
Phone: 301-496-6355
Fax: 301-402-2585
E-mail: abatia@mail.nih.gov

Biography

Dr. Abati is a graduate of the S.U.N.Y. Buffalo Medical School. She completed residencies in Anatomic Pathology and Neuropathology at the New York University Medical Center and fellowships in Surgical Pathology and Cytopathology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Prior to coming to the NCI, Dr. Abati was a staff pathologist at New York University Medical Center and the Baylor University Medical Center where she also completed a residency in Clinical Pathology. She serves on the editorial boards of Diagnostic Cytopathology, Cancer Cytopathology and Clinical Cancer Research. She is the secretary for Papanicolaou Society of Cytopathology and the editor of the newsletter Focus.

Dr. Abati is well known through her numerous publications and national and international lectures on her area of expertise, the application of ancillary techniques to cytopathology. She is a co-author of Modern Cytopathology, a comprehensive text of cytopathology to be published by W. B. Saunders in early 2003.

Cytopathology Section

The Cytopathology Section provides complete diagnostic service in cytopathology for the
Clinical Center of the National Institutes of Health. We utilize ancillary diagnostic techniques such as immunocytochemistry, flow cytometry and molecular diagnostics when appropriate, to confirm interpretations made by routine light microscopy or to enhance cytological diagnostic accuracy. In medical practice today, cytopathology is no longer simply a screening modality, but rather provides definitive diagnoses which direct patient care and treatment.

The Cytopathology Section has an approximate distribution of specimens as follows: FNA, 30 percent; CNS, 33 percent; effusions, 8 percent; respiratory, 9 percent; GU, 10 percent; cervical/vaginal, 7 percent; GI, 1 percent; miscellaneous, 2 percent. The section has a high rate of malignancy-25 percent of all accessioned specimens. Due to the nature of the specimen material, a large number of our cases require immunoperoxidase studies (20 percent). The immuno-suppressed nature of the patient population dictates that a significant proportion of our cases requires special studies for pathologic organisms (10 percent). The relatively high rate of pathologic findings combined with the diversity of types of exfoliative and FNA specimens provide a broad experience in diagnostic cytopathology for residency and fellowship training.

The Cytopathology Section is involved in several clinically-related research projects, many of which utilize fine needle aspiration (FNA) and immunocytochemistry to provide ancillary diagnostic information regarding expression of various tumor antigens. A partial listing of such studies includes:
(1) evaluation of CD25 antigen in lymphoma FNA specimens as part of a clinical trial using the monoclonal antibody Tac
(2) semiquantitative analysis of the melanoma associated antigens gp100, MART-1, and tyrosinase in FNA samples of metastatic malignant melanoma as well as HLA-A2 status of tumor cells and T cell infiltration in these lesions for subsequent immunotherapy treatment
(3) morphologic and immunocytochemical evaluation of apheresis specimens for circulating tumor cells in patients with stage III and IV breast cancer
(4) immunocytochemical evaluation of lymphoid populations in bronchoalveolar lavage specimens from patients subsequent to local exposure to endotoxin
(5) evaluation of FNA and frozen tissue biopsies of ovarian cancer for expression of MoV-18 for immunotherapy treatment
(6) detection of the BK virus/SV40 T antigen in the urine of HIV positive patients.
(7) pilot trial of sequential neoadjuvant combination chemotherapy with TX and AC in breast cancer with evaluation of chemotherapy effects on gene expression

Research projects include proteomic evaluation of various malignancies for potential diagnostic use and evaluation of the MXR protein, a newly identified transporter in multidrug resistance.

Recent Publications:
Fetsch PA, Simsir A, Abati A. Comparison of antibodies to HBME-1 and calretinin for the detection of mesothelial cells in effusion cytology. Diagnostic Cytopathology 2001;25(3):158-161.

Fetsch PA, Steinberg SM, Riker AI, Marincola FM, Abati A. Melanoma antigen expression in serial fine-needle aspiration samples in patients with metastatic malignant melanoma participating in immunotherapy clinical trials: a preliminary look. Cancer 2001;25;93(6):409-14.

Fetsch PA, Abati A, Immunocytochemistry in effusion cytology-a contemporary review. Cancer Cytopathology 2001;93:293-308.

Fetsch PA, Brosky K, Simsir A, Abati A. Preparation of effusion cytology samples for optimal immunocytochemistry: a comparison of cytospins vs. thinprep vs. cell blocks. Diagnostic Cytopathology 2002;26(1):61-6.

Dahmoush L, Hijazi Y, Barnes E, Stetler-Stevenson MA, Abati A. Adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma: a cytopathological, immunocytochemical and flow cytometric study. Cancer Cytopathology (in press).

Filie A, Wilder A, Brosky K, Kopp J, Arora K, Abati A. Urinary cytology associated with human BK virus and indinavir in HIV positive patients: a study of 155 cases. AJCP (in press).

Collaborators:
Franco Marincola, M.D., Surgery Branch, NCI
Steven Rosenberg, M.D., Surgery Branch, NCI
Susan Bates, M.D., Cancer Therapeutics Branch, NCI
Wyndham Wilson, M.D., Medicine Branch, NCI
Richard Little, M.D., AIDS Malignancy Clinical Research Section, NCI
Steven Holland, M.D., National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
Patrick Hwu, M.D., Surgery Branch, NCI
Suzanne Topalian, M.D., Surgery Branch, NCI
JoAnne Zujewski, M.D., Medical Oncology Clinical Research Unit, NCI
Jeffrey Kopp, M.D., National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
Robert Kreitman, M.D., Laboratory of Molecular Biology, NCI
Aylin Simsir, M.D., Department of Pathology, New York University Medical Center
Yasmine Hijazi, M.D., Director Cytopathology, American Medical Laboratories