Laboratory of Pathology

Graduate Medical Education (GME): Cytopathology

Armando Filie, MD

Eligibility Criteria
Candidates must be licensed to practice medicine in the United States and certified by or eligible for the American Board of Pathology in anatomic pathology or anatomic pathology/clinical pathology.

Overview
The Cytopathology Section of the National Cancer Institute provides diagnostic cytopathology services to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and its associated clinical services in the Clinical Center, a 240-bed and 82 day-hospital stations research hospital. The relatively high frequency of pathologic findings combined with the diversity of types of exfoliative and fine needle aspiration (FNA) specimens seen in our Section provide a broad experience in diagnostic cytopathology. The goals of the fellowship are to develop a strong foundation in diagnostic cytopathology and introduce clinically oriented physicians to current research techniques.

Structure of the Clinical Training Program
The Fellowship program is 12 months in duration. For the clinical training, Fellows are assigned to the cytology diagnostic service approximately seventy-five percent (75%) of the time. While on service, the Fellow will have progressive and supervised responsibility for the accessioned cases and for performing FNAs. A staff pathologist is available for back-up and consultation at all times. Daily working conferences which all staff members attend are an integral component of the training. The Section accessions approximately 3,000 specimens per year. Ninety-two percent (92%) of our caseload is non-gynecologic cytology including 26% FNA samples. The Fellow will also rotate for one month each through the Cytopathology Divisions of the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and the George Washington University Medical Center. Our Section also has an active immunocytochemistry service utilized for diagnostic and research purposes. The remaining 25% of the time is spent in clinical research training where the Fellow will familiarize him/herself with current techniques that can be applied in the research and clinical setting. Completion of the program qualifies the candidate for the cytopathology special qualification board exam.

Program Faculty and Research Interests

  Armando Filie, MD: application of ancillary techniques in cytopathology and clinical research, fine needle aspiration, thyroid, immunocytochemistry.

  Mark Roth, MD: enhancing diagnosis and clinical management through the integration of cytologic sampling and advanced microdissection techniques.

Examples of Papers Authored by Program Faculty

  Erdag G, Roy Chowdhuri S, Fetsch P, Erickson D, Hughes MS, Filie AC. KBA.62 and S100 protein expression in cytologic samples of metastatic malignant melanoma. Diagn Cytopathol 41:847-51, 2013

  Sheikh V, Caplan M, Wilson EM, Papadi B, Rosenberg AZ, Higgins J, Driscoll B, Filie AC, Sereti I. Cytomegalovirus immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome manifesting as sialadenitis in an HIV-infected patient. AIDS 17:27(11):1833-5, 2013

  Deziel NC, Wei WQ, Abnet CC, Qiao YL, Sunderland D, Ren JS, Schantz MM, Zhang Y, Strickland PT, Abubaker S, Dawsey SM, Friesen MC, Roth MJ. A multi-day environmental study of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon exposure in a high-risk region for esophageal cancer in China. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 23(1):52-9, 2013

  Roy Chowdhuri S, Xi L, Pham THT, Hanson J, Rodriguez-Canales J, Berman A, Rajan A, Giaccone G, Emmert-Buck M, Raffeld M, Filie AC. EGFR and KRAS mutation analysis in cytologic samples of non-small cell lung carcinoma enabled by laser capture microdissection. Mod Pathol 25:548-55, 2012

  Roy Chowdhuri S, Hanson J, Cheng J, Rodriguez-Canales J, Fetsch P, Balis U, Filie AC, Giaccone G, Emmert-Buck MR, Hipp JD. Semi-automated laser capture microdissection of lung adenocarcinoma cytology samples. Acta Cytologica 56:632-35, 2012

  Khozin S, Roth MJ, Rajan A, Smith K, Thomas A, Berman A, Giaccone G. Hepatoid carcinoma of the lung with anaplastic lymphoma kinase gene rearrangement. J Thorac Oncol 7(11):e29-31, 2012

  Chowdhuri SR, Fetsch P, Squires J, Kohn E, Filie AC. Adenocarcinoma cells in effusion cytology as a diagnostic pitfall with potential impact on clinical management: A case report with brief review of immunomarkers. Diagn Cytopathol 2012 Nov 16. [Epub ahead of print]

  Song JY, Filie AC, Venzon D, Stetler-Stevenson M, Yuan CM. Flow cytometry increases the sensitivity of detection of leukemia and lymphoma cells in bronchoalveolar lavage specimens. Cytometry B Clin Cytom 82:305-12, 2012

  Tembhare P, Yuan CM, Morris JC, Janik JE, Filie AC, Stetler-Stevenson M. Flow Cytometric Immunophenotypic Assessment of T-cell Clonality by V Beta Repertoire Analysis in Fine-Needle Aspirates and Cerebrospinal Fluid. Am J Clin Pathol 137:220-6, 2012

  Matsuda KM, Nóbrega R, Quezado M, Schrump DS, Filie AC. Melanocytic bronchopulmonary carcinoid tumor in a patient with multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 1: a case report with emphasis on intraoperative cytological findings. Diagn Cytopathol. 38:669-74, 2010

  Palavalli LH, Prickett TD, Wunderlich JR, Wei X, Burrell AS, Porter-Gill P, Davis S, Wang C, Cronin JC, Agrawal NS, Lin JC, Westbroek W, Hoogstraten-Miller S, Molinolo AA, Fetsch P, Filie AC, O'Connell MP, Banister CE, Howard JD, Buckhaults P, Weeraratna AT, Brody LC, Rosenberg SA, Samuels Y. Analysis of the matrix metalloproteinase family reveals that MMP8 is often mutated in melanoma. Nat Genet. 41:518-20, 2009

  Loud JT, Thiébaut AC, Abati AD, Filie AC, Nichols K, Danforth D, Giusti R, Prindiville SA, Greene MH. Ductal lavage in women from BRCA1/2 families: is there a future for ductal lavage in women at increased genetic risk of breast cancer? Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 18:1243-51, 2009

Program Graduates
Recent program graduates, including their current positions, are listed below:

  Bhavesh Papadi, MD. University of Miami Health System, Miami, FL

  Sarwat Siddiqui, MD. Laboratory Corporation of America, Burlington, NC

  Sinchita Roy Chowdhuri, MD, PhD. The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX

  Shveta Arya, MD. Professional Pathology of Wyoming Inc., Casper, WY

  Gulsun Erdag, MD. Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD

Application Information

A single fellowship position, which is a one year combined clinical service and research appointment, is available. Candidates must be physicians licensed to practice medicine in the US and board certified/eligible in anatomic pathology or anatomic pathology/clinical pathology. Our program is recognized by the American Board of Pathology as satisfying training requirements necessary to qualify for the examination for added qualification in cytopathology.

Electronic Application
The quickest and easiest way to find out more about this training program or to apply for consideration is to do it electronically.