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Agreement for tumor grade of ovarian carcinoma: analysis of archival tissues from the surveillance, epidemiology, and end results residual tissue repository

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Abstract

Background

Emerging data suggest that ovarian cancers differ by tumor grade. However, the reliability of microscopic grade from paraffin tissue in the general medical community and as reflected in population-based cancer registries is unknown.

Methods

We examined grade agreement between two gynecologic pathologists and the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results Residual Tissue Repository (SEER). Grade agreement was assessed with percent observer agreement and kappa coefficients for 664 invasive ovarian carcinomas, using previously defined three-tier and two-tier grading systems. A random subset of ovarian carcinomas was selected to compare intra- and inter-pathologist agreement.

Results

Five hundred and eighty-six of SEER’s 664 tumors were confirmed invasive. Percent agreement was 49 % with fair kappa coefficient = 0.25 (95 % CI: 0.20–0.30) for the 664 tumors. Agreement improved slightly when restricted to the 586 confirmed invasive cancers; it was better for high grade than low grade tumors, for two-tier than three-tier grading systems, and within (66 %) than between study pathologists (43 %). Grade was not a robust independent predictor of ovarian cancer-specific survival.

Conclusions

Grade agreement was fair between SEER and study pathologists irrespective of grading system. Recorded grade in SEER should be used with caution and is probably not a reliable metric for ovarian cancer epidemiology.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute Intramural Research Program, R01CA58598, N01CN67001, N01-PC-35137, and N01-PC-35143.

Conflict of interest

None of the co-authors has a financial conflict of interest that would have affected this research.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. DHHS/NIH/National Cancer Institute/Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, 6120 Executive Blvd (EPS 8036), Rockville, MD, 20852, USA

    Rayna K. Matsuno, Mark E. Sherman, Ruth M. Pfeiffer & William F. Anderson

  2. Epidemiology Department, University of Hawaii Cancer Center, Honolulu, HI, USA

    Rayna K. Matsuno, Marc T. Goodman, Brenda Y. Hernandez & David Horio

  3. Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Rayna K. Matsuno & Kala Visvanathan

  4. Department of Epidemiology, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA

    Charles F. Lynch

  5. Department of Pathology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Olga B. Ioffe

  6. Department of Pathology, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City, IA, USA

    Charles Platz

  7. DHHS/NIH/National Cancer Institute/Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, Rockville, MD, USA

    Sean F. Altekruse

Authors
  1. Rayna K. Matsuno
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  2. Mark E. Sherman
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  3. Kala Visvanathan
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  4. Marc T. Goodman
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  5. Brenda Y. Hernandez
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  6. Charles F. Lynch
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  7. Olga B. Ioffe
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  8. David Horio
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  9. Charles Platz
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  10. Sean F. Altekruse
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  11. Ruth M. Pfeiffer
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  12. William F. Anderson
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to William F. Anderson.

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Disclaimer The authors had full access to all of the data in the study and take responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the analysis.

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Matsuno, R.K., Sherman, M.E., Visvanathan, K. et al. Agreement for tumor grade of ovarian carcinoma: analysis of archival tissues from the surveillance, epidemiology, and end results residual tissue repository. Cancer Causes Control 24, 749–757 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-013-0157-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-013-0157-5

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