The Role of the Pap Smear Diagnosis: Atypical Glandular Cells (AGC)

The term atypical glandular cells of undetermined significance (AGUS) was first introduced at the 1988 Bethesda Conference (National Cancer Institute Workshop, 1989) and defined as morphologic changes in glandular cells beyond those suggestive a benign reactive process, but insufficient for the interpretation of adenocarcinoma. In the 2001 Bethesda System (TBS 2001) (Solomon, 2002), the term has been changed to better reflect current knowledge and understanding of glandular neoplasia. The category has been defined and renamed “atypical glandular cells” (AGC), with the subclassifications “not otherwise specified” (AGC-NOS) and “favor neoplastic” (AGC-FN). The cell type of origin, endocervical or endometrial, should be addressed whenever possible. Adenocarcinoma in situ has been separated as another distinct category of diagnosis.