INTRODUCTIONOvarian cancer is the second most common gynecologic malignancy, the most common cause of gynecologic cancer death, and the fifth leading cause of cancer death in women in developed countries.1 In India, ovarian cancer is the third leading site of cancer among women, trailing behind cervix and breast cancer. Each year, over 22,000 women are diagnosed worldwide with epithelial ovarian cancer and 15,000 die of it.2 In patients with cancers of the breast and endometrium, the relationship between tumor estrogen and progesterone receptor (PR) expression and prognosis is well documented. Estrogen is considered a primary culprit in the development of ovarian cancer as 70% of ovarian cancers express estrogen receptors (ERs), whereas progesterone and its receptors are protective against ovarian cancer. 3,4However, the clinical significance of ER and PR content in ovarian carcinomas has not been well established due to conflicting data from only a few immunohistochemical studies available in the literature.The present study was taken up to understand the disease morbidity and to know the role of steroid receptors in the pathogenesis of ovarian cancers. ABSTRACTBackground: Ovarian cancer is the second most common gynaecologic malignancy, most common cause of gynaecologic cancer death and has worst prognosis among all gynecological malignancies. The clinical significance of ER and PR content in ovarian carcinomas has not been well established in the literature. Methods: A prospective study was conducted over a period of 2 years (2013)(2014)(2015) in the department of pathology, Andhra Medical College, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India. The study includes 42 cases of ovarian cancers. Representative 3-4μm sections were taken and IHC was performed with specific antibodies. Results: The mean age at presentation was 39.5 years, majority of the ovarian carcinomas occurred in the age group of third and fifth decade (20/42). The commonest clinical presentation was mass per abdomen. The commonest histological type was malignant surface epithelial tumors (25/42, 59.55%) of which serous cystadenocarcinioma was the predominant tumor followed by germ cell tumors (9/42, 21.42%). Ascites was associated with higher grade and higher stage of tumors. Majority of the ovarian carcinomas were of grade 2 (57.14%) and stage 3 (35.7%). ER was positive in (9/42) 21.42%, PR was positive in (10/42) 23.8% and Her2/neu was equivocal in (3/42) 7.14% of ovarian carcinomas. ER, PR and Her2 showed similar expression, with higher expression in cases of advanced disease. Conclusions: The expression of steroid hormonal receptors in ovarian cancers paves way for antihormonal therapy/ targeted therapy and this requires more number of studies with larger sample size.

BACKGROUND Cancer is one of the leading cause of death both in developed and developing countries. In India, it accounts for 0.3 million deaths per year. Cancers of lung, GIT and oral cancers dominated among men while breast, cervix, ovary and oral cavity were commonest cancer seen in women. Among the gastrointestinal cancers, cancers of the oesophagus, stomach, colon, rectum and liver cancers were commonest. The aim of the study is to evaluate the incidence of the various GIT cancers in a tertiary hospital of Coastal Andhra when compared to other studies. MATERIALS AND METHODS In this retrospective study, a total of 509 health records of patients affected by cancers were studied and relevant details noted. RESULTS A total of 509 cancer cases were reported in this period of 18 months (January 2016-June 2017) of which 85 cases (16.3%) were of Gastrointestinal (GIT) cancers. The age group between 40 and 60 recorded the maximum incidence of 47 cancers (55.1%). The incidence of gastrointestinal cancers were significantly higher in the men (56 cases) (65.8%) than the women (29 cases) (34.11%). The commonest site of GIT cancers was the colorectal region (30 cases) (35.7%). The most common type of cancer seen was adenocarcinoma seen in 73 cases (85.8%). CONCLUSION Public education and awareness for the warning symptoms should be increased to prevent reduction of the life span and health caused by the gastrointestinal cancers with intense awareness drive using various means including social media undertaken to educate the public regarding the warning symptoms and screening of such group for GIT cancers.

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BACKGROUND Paediatric Solid Neoplasms (PSN) are a global problem. There is significant variation of incidence of paediatric solid neoplasms in various regions of the world. Benign tumours are more common than cancer. In an effort to better understand the prevalence of paediatric solid tumours in our region, a retrospective review of the tumours diagnosed histopathologically was carried out. MATERIALS AND METHODS This is a retrospective study undertaken in a tertiary care hospital for a period of five years. All the benign and malignant paediatric solid tumours of children below 14 years from January 2012 to December 2016 were retrieved and analysed according to age, sex and histopathological diagnosis. Leukaemias were excluded from our study. All tumours were diagnosed on conventional haematoxylin and eosin-stained sections. RESULTS A total of 109 cases of solid paediatric tumours were received during this period. Of these, maximum of 30 tumours were of soft tissue tumours followed by Central Nervous System (CNS) and bone tumours with 24 and 23 cases, respectively. 7 cases of blastomas were also observed. CONCLUSION This study showed benign and malignant tumours to be of near-equal prevalence. Soft tissue tumours were the most common. Ratio of benign tumours to malignant were almost equal below 4 years. Malignant tumours were higher in 5-9 years group.