One of the daily challenges of a pathologist is to correctly classify tumors into biological categories so that patients are managed appropriately. However, many lesions are not classifiable as either benign or malignant. These problematic or atypical lesions, even if managed conservatively, often require long follow-ups, which can lead to patient anxiety. To supplement his years of experience in diagnostic gynecologic pathology, Professor Ip endeavors to gain a greater understanding of gynecological malignancies, especially those with ambiguous morphology and uncertain biological behavior. His research mission is to elucidate the mechanisms of development and progression of some of these malignancies, in search of biomarkers to aid diagnosis and explore new treatment options in rare malignancies in order to improve patients’ outcomes. This valuable information has a direct impact on management, and will serve as a foundation for the development of targeted therapy and personalized medicine for patients with these uncommon lesions.

Professor Ip was a medical graduate of The University of Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom, and completed his pathology training at The University of Hong Kong. Professor Ip was a visiting gynecologic pathology fellow at The Vancouver General Hospital, The University of British Columbia, Canada, and The Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA. Professor Ip has presented widely and internationally, and authored papers, book chapters and management guidelines in the field of gynecologic pathology, including multiple chapters in the 4^th Edition of World Health Organization Classification of Tumours of Female Reproductive Organs (2014) and 5^th Edition of World Health Organization Classification of Female Genital Tumours (2020).

• The International Society of Gynecological Pathologists Board of Directors (2024-2026).
• International Collaboration in Cancer Reporting (ICCR) Domain Expert Panel member for Endometrial Cancers
• International Collaboration in Cancer Reporting (ICCR) Domain Expert Panel member for Uterine Malignant and Potentially Malignant Mesenchymal Tumours
• The International Society of Gynecological Pathologists Global Advisory Network (Asia-East)
• Asian Gynecologic Oncology Group Board
• International Academy of Pathology, Hong Kong Division, Council
• The Hong Kong College of Pathologists, Anatomical Pathology Examiner (former Chief Examiner, and Genetic and Genomic Pathology First Fellowship Assessor), and Laboratory Inspector for Training

• Modern Pathology Editorial Board
• American Journal of Surgical Pathology Editorial Board
• International Journal of Gynecological Pathology Editorial Board
• Acta Cytologica Editorial Board

• Health and Medical Research Fund 2019 (08192396): Therapeutic potentials of polo-like kinase 4 inhibitor in leiomyosarcoma.
• Health and Medical Research Fund 2020 (09201856): Improved patient management through genomic analysis of uterine smooth muscle tumor of uncertain malignant potential (STUMP).

RECENT

• Fadare O, Fard EV, Bhargava R, Desouki MM, Hanley KZ, Ip PPC, Li JJX, Lu B, Medeiros F, Ng JHY, Parkash V, Pinto A, Quick CM, Shala SL, Tokuyama M, Turashvili G, Wei CH, Xing D, Zheng W, Soong TR, Howitt BE. The malignant potential of ovarian steroid cell tumors revisited: A multi-institutional clinicopathologic analysis of 115 cases. Am J Surg Pathol 2024 (in press).
• Jamieson A, Vermij L, Kramer CJH, Jobsen JJ, Jürgemlienk-Schulz I, Lutgens L, Mens JW, Haverkort MAD, Slot A, Nout RA, Oosting J, Carlson J, Howitt BE, Ip PPC, Lax SF, McCluggage WG, Singh N, McAlpine JN, Creutzberg CL, Horeweg N, Gilks CB, Bosse T. Clinical Behavior and Molecular Landscape of Stage I p53-Abnormal Low-Grade Endometrioid Endometrial Carcinomas. Clin Cancer Res. 2023;29(23):4949-4957.
• Chan WS, Mo X, Ip PPC, Tse KY. Patient-derived organoid culture in epithelial ovarian cancers-Techniques, applications, and future perspectives. Cancer Med. 2023;12(19):19714-19731.
• Matias-Guiu X, Selinger CI, Anderson L, Buza N, Ellenson LH, Fadare O, Ganesan R, Ip PPC, Palacios J, Parra-Herran C, Raspollini MR, Soslow RA, Werner HMJ, Lax SF, McCluggage WG. Data Set for the Reporting of Endometrial Cancer: Recommendations From the International Collaboration on Cancer Reporting (ICCR). Int J Gynecol Pathol. 2022;41(suppl 1):S90-S118.
• Nucci MR, Webster F, Croce S, George S, Howitt BE, Ip PPC, Lee CH, Rabban JT, Soslow RA, van der Griend R, Lax SF, McCluggage WG. Data Set for Reporting of Uterine Malignant and Potentially Malignant Mesenchymal Tumors: Recommendations From the International Collaboration on Cancer Reporting (ICCR). Int J Gynecol Pathol. 2022;41(suppl 1):S44-S63.

UTERINE MESENCHYMAL TUMOR

• Lok J, Tse KY, Lee EYP, Wong RWC, Cheng ISY, Chan ANH, Leung CKL, Cheung ANY, Ip PPC. Intraoperative frozen section biopsy of uterine smooth muscle tumors: A clinicopathologic analysis of 112 cases with emphasis on potential diagnostic pitfalls. Am J Surg Pathol. 2021;45:1179-1189.
• Ip PP, Cheung AN, Clement PB. Uterine smooth muscle tumor of uncertain malignant potential. A clinicopathologic study of 16 cases. Am J Surg Pathol. 2009;33:992-1005.
• Ip PP, Tse KY, Tam KF. Uterine smooth muscle tumors other than the ordinary leiomyomas and leiomyosarcomas: a review of selected variants with emphasis on recent advances and unusual morphology that may cause concern for malignancy. Adv Anat Pathol. 2010;17:91-112.
• Ip PP, Lim D, Cheung ANY, Oliva E. Immunoexpression of p16 in uterine leiomyomas with infarct-type necrosis: an analysis of 35 cases. Histopathology. 2017;71:743-750.
• Chow KL, Tse KY, Cheung CL, Wong KW, Cheung AN, Wong RW, Chan AN, Yuen NW, Ngan HY, Ip PP. The mitosis-specific marker phosphohistone-H3 (PHH3) is an independent prognosticator in uterine smooth muscle tumours: an outcome-based study. Histopathology. 2017;70:746-755.
• Ip PP, Cheung AN. Pathology of uterine leiomyosarcomas and smooth muscle tumours of uncertain malignant potential. Best Pract Res Clin Obstet Gynaecol. 2011;25:691-704.
• Slatter TL, Hsia H, Samaranayaka A, Sykes P, Clow WB, Devenish CJ, Sutton T, Royds JA, Ip PP, Cheung AN, Hung NA. Loss of ATRX and DAXX expression identifies poor prognosis for smooth muscle tumours of uncertain malignant potential and early stage uterine leiomyosarcoma. J Pathol Clin Res. 2015;1:95-105.
• Ip PP, Lam KW, Cheung CL, Yeung MC, Pun TC, Chan QK, Cheung AN. Tranexamic acid-associated necrosis and intralesional thrombosis of uterine leiomyomas: a clinicopathologic study of 147 cases emphasizing the importance of drug-induced necrosis and early infarcts in leiomyomas. Am J Surg Pathol. 2007;31:1215-24.
• Devins KM. Young RH, Croce S, Burandt E, Bennett JA, Pesci A, Zannoni GF, Ip PPC, Nielsen GP, Oliva E. Solitary fibrous tumors of the female genital tract: A study of 27 cases emphasizing nonvulvar locations, variant histology, and prognostic factors. Am J Surg Pathol. 2022;46(3):363-375.
• Tse KY*, Wong RWC, Chao A, Ueng SH, Yang LY, Cummings M, Smith D, Lai CR, Lau CR, Lau HY, Yen MS, Cheung ANY, Leung CKL, Chan KS, Chan ANH, Li HW, Choi CKM, Pong WM, Hui HF, Yuk JYW, Yao H, Yuen NWF, Obermair A, Lai CH, Ip PPC*^, Ngan HYS^. Development of a multi-institutional prediction model for three-year survival status in patients with uterine leiomyosarcoma (AGOG11-022 / QCGC1302 study). Cancers (Basel). 2021;13 (10):2378.

ENDOMETRIAL PATHOLOGY

• Li JJX, Ip PPC. Endometrial cancer. An update on prognostic pathologic features and clinically relevant biomarkers. Surg Pathol Clin 2022;15(2):277–299.
• Ip PP. Benign endometrial proliferations mimicking malignancies: a review of problematic entities in small biopsy specimens. Virchows Arch. 2018;472:907-917.
• Ip PP, Wang SY, Wong OGW, Chow KL, Lee HHY, Cheung ANY, Tse KY. Napsin A, hepatocyte nuclear factor-1-beta (HNF-1β), estrogen and progesterone receptors expression in Arias-Stella reaction. Am J Surg Pathol. 2019;43:325-333.
• Ip PP, Irving JA, McCluggage WG, Clement PB, Young RH. Papillary proliferation of the endometrium: a clinicopathologic study of 59 cases of simple and complex papillae without cytologic atypia. Am J Surg Pathol. 2013;37:167-77.
• Lim D, Ip PP, Cheung AN, Kiyokawa T, Oliva E. Immunohistochemical Comparison of Ovarian and Uterine Endometrioid Carcinoma, Endometrioid Carcinoma With Clear Cell Change, and Clear Cell Carcinoma. Am J Surg Pathol. 2015;39:1061-9.
• Fadare O, Shaker N, Alghamdi A, Ganesan R, Hanley KZ, Hoang LN, Hecht JL, Ip PP, Shaker N, Roma AA, Parkash V, Abubakr H. Endometrial tumors with yolk sac tumor-like morphologic patterns or immunophenotypes: an expanded appraisal. Mod Pathol. 2019 Dec;32(12):1847-1860. 
• Cho KR, Cooper K, Croce S, Djordevic B, Herrington S, Howitt B, Hui P, Ip P, Koebel M, Lax S, Quade BJ, Shaw P, Vidal A, Yemelyanova A, Clarke B, Hedrick Ellenson L, Longacre TA, Shih IM, McCluggage WG, Malpica A, Oliva E, Parkash V, Matias-Guiu X. International Society of Gynecological Pathologists (ISGyP) Endometrial Cancer Project: Guidelines From the Special Techniques and Ancillary Studies Group. Int J Gynecol Pathol. 2019;38 Suppl 1:S114-S122.
• Chu MM, Liu SS, Tam KF, Ip PP, Cheung AN, Ngan HY. The significance of mismatch repair deficiency in young patients with endometrial cancer. Int J Gynecol Pathol. 2015;34:403-10.
• Seto MT, Ip PP, Ngu SF, Cheung AN, Pun TC. Positive predictive value of endometrial polyps in Pipelle aspiration sampling: a histopathological study of 195 cases. Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol. 2016;203:12-5.

CYTOLOGY

• To SKY, Tang MKS, Tong Y, Zhang J, Chan KKL, Ip PPC, Shi J, Wong AST. A selective β-catenin-metadherin/CEACAM1-CCL3 axis mediates metastatic heterogeneity upon tumor-macrophage interaction. Adv Sci (Weinh). 2022;9(16):e2103230.
• Kan T, Wang W, Ip PP, Zhou S, Wong AS, Wang X, Yang M. Single-cell EMT-related transcriptional analysis revealed intra-cluster heterogeneity of tumor cell clusters in epithelial ovarian cancer ascites. Oncogene. 2020;39(21):4227-4240.
• Li SS, Ip C, Tang YH, Tang M, Tong Y, Zhang JW, Hassan A, Mak ASC, Yung S, Chan TM, Ip PP, Lee CL, Chiu P, Lee L, Lai HC, Zeng JZ, Shum H. Wong, AST. Sialyl LewisX-P-selectin cascade mediates tumor-mesothelial adhesion in ascitic fluid shear flow. Nat Commun. 2019;10:2406.
• Tang MKS, Yue PYK, Ip PP, Huang RL, Lai HC, Cheung ANY, Tse KY, Ngan HYS, Wong AST. Soluble E-cadherin promotes tumor angiogenesis and localizes to exosome surface. Nat Commun. 2018;9:2270.
• Tang MKS, Ip PP, Wong AST. New insights into the role of soluble E-cadherin in tumor angiogenesis. Cell Stress. 2018;2:236-238.
• Ng JKM, Cheung BHC, Lee DHY, Li JJX, Ip PPC, Lee JHS, Yeung CSY, Yu MY. Detection rates and factors affecting thereof in endometrial hyperplasia, endometrial carcinoma, and cervical glandular lesions on cervical smear. Cancer Med. 2023;12(17):17581-17591.

MELANOMA

• Yu Y, Tse KY, Lee HHY, Chow KL, Tsang HW, Wong RWC, Cheung ETY, Cheuk W, Lee VWK, Chan WK, Wong AST, Loong HHF, Chan KKL, Ngan HYS, Cheung ANY, Ip PPC. Predictive biomarkers and tumor microenvironment in female genital melanomas: a multi-institutional study of 55 cases. Mod Pathol. 2020;33(1):138-152.
• Hu F, Fong KO, Cheung MPL, Liu JA, Liang R, Li TW, Sharma R, Ip PP, Yang X, Cheung M. DEPDC1B promotes melanoma angiogenesis and metastasis through sequestration of ubiquitin ligase cdc16 to stabilize secreted SCUBE3. Adv Sci (Weinh). 2022;9(10):e2105226.

 
ARTIFICAL INTELLIGENCE

• Levine AB, Peng J, Farnell D, Nursey M, Wang Y, Naso JR, Ren HZ, Farahani H, Chen C, Chiu D, Talhouk A, Sheffield B, Riazy M, Ip PP, Parra-Herran C, Mills A, Singh N, Tessier-Cloutier B, Salisbury T, Lee J, Salcudean T, Jones SJM, Huntsman DJ, Gilks CB, Yip S, Bashashati A. Synthesis of diagnostic quality cancer pathology images. J Pathol. 2020;252(2):178-188. 
• Wong OGW, Ng IFY, Tsun OKL, Pang HH, Ip PP, Cheung ANY. Machine learning interpretation of extended human papillomavirus genotyping by Onclarity in an Asian cervical cancer screening population. J Clin Microbiol. 2019 Nov 22;57(12):e00997-19. 
• Wong OG, Ho MW, Tsun OK, Ng AK, Tsui EY, Chow JN, Ip PP, Cheung AN. An automated quantitative DNA image cytometry system detects abnormal cells in cervical cytology with high sensitivity. Cytopathology. 2018;29:267-274.

 
OVARIAN CARCINOMA

• Chan KK, Wong OG, Wong ES, Chan KK, Ip PP, Tse KY, Cheung AN. Impact of iASPP on chemoresistance through PLK1 and autophagy in ovarian clear cell carcinoma. Int J Cancer. 2018;143:1456-1469.
• Siu MK, Kong DS, Chan HY, Wong ES, Ip PP, Jiang L, Ngan HY, Le XF, Cheung AN. Paradoxical impact of two folate receptors, FRα and RFC, in ovarian cancer: effect on cell proliferation, invasion and clinical outcome. PLoS One. 2012;7:e47201.
• Liao X, Siu MK, Au CW, Wong ES, Chan HY, Ip PP, Ngan HY, Cheung AN. Aberrant activation of hedgehog signaling pathway in ovarian cancers: effect on prognosis, cell invasion and differentiation. Carcinogenesis. 2009;30:131-40.
• Chan QK, Ngan HY, Ip PP, Liu VW, Xue WC, Cheung AN. Tumor suppressor effect of follistatin-like 1 in ovarian and endometrial carcinogenesis: a differential expression and functional analysis. Carcinogenesis. 2009;30:114-21.
• Khoo US, Ozcelik H, Cheung AN, Chow LW, Ngan HY, Done SJ, Liang AC, Chan VW,Au GK, Ng WF, Poon CS, Leung YF, Loong F, Ip P, Chan GS, Andrulis IL, Lu J, Ho FC. Somatic mutations in the BRCA1 gene in Chinese sporadic breast and ovarian cancer. Oncogene. 1999;18:4643-6.

CERVICAL CARCINOMA

• Wong RWC, Ng JHY, Han KC, Leung YP, Shek CM, Cheung KN, Choi CKM, Tse KY, Ip PPC. Cervical carcinomas with serous-like papillary and micropapillary components: illustrating the heterogeneity of primary cervical carcinomas. Mod Pathol. 2021;34(1):207-221
• Perucho JAU, Wang M, Tse KY, Ip PPC, Siu SWK, Ngan HYS, Khong PL, Lee EYP. Association between MRI histogram features and treatment response in locally advanced cervical cancer treated by chemoradiotherapy. Eur Radiol. 2021;31(3):1727-1735.
• Perucho JAU, Tse KY, Chu MMY, Ip PP; Lee EYP. MRI texture features differentiate clinicopathological characteristics of cervical carcinoma. Wang M, Eur Radiol. 2020;30(10):5384-5391.
• Liu SS, Chan KKL, Chu DKH, Wei TN, Lau SK, Ngu SF, Chu MMY, Tse KY, Ip PPC, Ng EKO, Cheung ANY, Nan HYS. Oncogenic microRNA signature for early diagnosis of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and cancer. Mol Oncol. 2018;12(12):2009–2022.
• Wong OGW, TsunOKL, TsuiEY, ChowJNK, Ip PP, Cheung ANY. HPV genotyping and E6/E7 transcript assays for cervical lesion detection in an Asian screening population-Cobas and Aptima HPV tests. J Clin Virol. 2018;109:13-18.

• Grace HW Cheng
• Tsz Yan Chong
• Kin Long Chow
• Jasmine MK Ko
• Horace HY Lee
• Tsun Yee Tsang
• Ho Shing Wong
• Crystal KW Wong 
• Ying Yu