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Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility and safety of laparoscopic staging of overweight women with endometrial cancer and to compare the surgical outcomes among these patients with those managed by laparotomy., Methods: This was a retrospective analysis (Canadian Task-force Classification II-3). We reviewed operative and hospital records of 70 patients with a body mass index >25 kg/m2 who underwent surgical treatment for endometrial cancer between 2001 and 2008. Thirty-five patients treated laparoscopically were compared to an equivalent group of patients treated by laparotomy. Operative and postoperative variables were afterwards assessed., Results: Women in laparoscopic group had a significantly lower blood loss (median, 25th-75th percentiles: 1.2, 0.8-2.0 in laparoscopic versus 1.8, 1.0-2.8 in laparotomic group, P<0.05). No differences between both group in terms of operative time (median, 25th-75th percentiles: 165 min, 130-183 in laparoscopic versus 135 min, 110-170 in laparotomic; P>0.05) and mean number of pelvic and para-aortic lymph nodes removed (22 ± 8.4 versus 24 ± 6.2 and 9.2 ± 2.5 versus 9.3 ± 5 respectively; P>0.05). Length of urethral catheter and hospital stay were statistically higher in laparotomic group (two days versus three days; four days versus seven days respectively; P<0.05)., Conclusion: Laparoscopic surgery in overweight women with endometrial cancer had equivalent surgical staging than women operated by laparotomy. With regard to postsurgical variables, overweight women who underwent laparoscopic surgery had better results than those treated by laparotomy.

Over the past twenty years the use of fine needle aspiration techniques in breast cancer has spread worldwide, becoming a routine examination in the early phase of the study of palpable breast nodules. In this paper, the Authors review the state-of-the-art of fine needle aspiration, illustrating the most common methods and the various modifications made by operators. A new type of metal handle is also described which facilitates the collection of cells for cytological tests. Previously reported studies show that operators must be trained and supplied with suitable instruments in order to obtain valid results and to minimise the number of false positives and false negatives. There are very few complications to fine needle aspiration and none are severe, with the exception of pneumothorax which however has a frequency of under 3%. The majority of Authors agree that there should be more collaboration between the clinician and the anatomopathologist in order to increase the reliability of the technique. Fears of spreading cancer along the path of the needle have been dispelled following clinical experience over time. The survival of patients with breast cancer undergoing fine needle aspiration in the diagnostic phase does not differ from that in other patients.

HPV-induced flat condylomatosis is not only much more frequently observed on the hexocervix than the florid type, but it also induces colposcopic changes in the epithelium without completely altering its morphology. HPV-induced changes have now been largely identified and are recognisable in colposcopy. They can therefore be classified in the various patterns that characterise colposcopically the transformation epithelium, with undeniable advantages not only from the point of view of their correct classification but also from that of their prognostic evaluation. This is important because viral modifications ANTZ have a different diagnostic and prognostic significance from those observable in the notice squamous epithelium. A classification proposal of the various findings of flat HPV condylomatosis based on italian colposcopic classification is therefore presented.