Glassy cell carcinoma of the endometrium

Primary adenosquamous carcinoma of the endometrium with glassy cell features. A diagnostic pitfall as a very rare tumour type in the endometrium

Primary adenosquamous carcinoma of the endometrium with glassy cell features (ASCGCF) is an extremely rare entity and to date, 16 cases of this entity have been reported in the literature. ASC-GCF is an aggressive histological subtype of cervical carcinoma with rapid growth and early metastases; however, very little is known about those originating from the endometrium as they are limited to only a few case reports. Herein, we report a case of primary adenosquamous carcinoma of the endometrium with extensive glassy cell features which posed a major diagnostic challenge by mimicking many entities with its histological diversity.

Multimodality therapy of endometrial glassy cell carcinoma: a rare type of cancer

Glassy cell carcinoma (GCC) is a rare histologically aggressive cancer subtype of the cervix that is associated with poor prognosis. Only 16 cases of endometrial GCC (EGCC) have been described in the literature to date. The data on prognostic factors and management of EGCC are limited and no optimal treatment protocol has been established. We describe a case of a 67-year-old woman who presented with postmenopausal bleeding and was diagnosed with stage IA EGCC. The patient's risk factors included histology, age and lower uterine segment involvement. The patient was successfully treated with total hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy with pelvic node dissection followed by adjuvant sandwich chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The patient has no evidence of disease recurrence for 18 months. This is the first case of EGCC management with adjuvant multimodality therapy.

A case of endometrial glassy cell carcinoma: a rare entity which necessitates of better understanding

Endometrial glassy cell carcinoma (EGCC) is a rare neoplasm, accounting for 0.5% of the carcinomas in the endometrium, composed of cells with granular eosinophilic or amphophilic cytoplasm, giving it a ground glass appearance. Till date, only 14 cases of this carcinoma have been reported. In this report, we have described a case of EGCC to help define standard diagnostic criteria and better understand the course, ideal treatment, and accurate prognosis of this disease. We report a case of a 64-year-old woman diagnosed with EGCC after an abnormal pap smear. She underwent a hysteroscopy, which led to the histological diagnosis. Laparotomic total hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy were performed with pelvic lymphadenectomy and peritoneal and omental biopsies. Final pathological examination confirmed the initial diagnosis. Pelvic nodes removed during surgery and peritoneal and omental biopsies were negative for tumor cells. Treatment was considered appropriate and the patient did not require additional therapies. She was subsequently assigned to clinical follow-up and is alive, with no evidence of the disease.

Glassy cell carcinoma of the endometrium: case report and review of the literature

A szerzők 68 éves FIGO IB stádiumú méhnyálkahártyából kiinduló tejüvegsejtes carcinomás nőbeteg esetét ismertetik, akinél hysterectomia és kétoldali salpingo-oophorectomia, majd sugárkezelés történt. A beteg kétéves utánkövetése alatt daganatmentes volt. Az endometrium tejüvegsejtes carcinomája ritka tumorféleség, eddig 13 esetet közöltek a világon. Mint az adenosquamosus carcinoma rosszul differenciált változata valódi természetének megismerése ma is vita tárgyát képezi. A prognózisának és klinikai jelentőségének tisztázásához újabb közölt esetek és kritikai analízisük szükséges.

Glassy cell carcinoma of the endometrium: A case report and review of the literature

Glassy cell carcinomas are composed of malignant cells showing a "ground glass" cytoplasm, distinct cell membranes, and large nuclei with prominent nucleoli. To our knowledge, only 12 cases of glassy cell endometrial carcinomas (EGCC) have been reported until now. A 63-year-old patient complaining of irregular vaginal bleeding underwent hysteroscopy-guided biopsy revealing a well-differentiated endometrial endometrioid adenocarcinoma. The patient underwent left salpingo-oophorectomy, total abdominal hysterectomy, and pelvic lymphadenectomy. The final diagnosis was FIGO stage IB poorly differentiated endometrial adenosquamous carcinoma with > 90% of glassy tumor cells. The patient is alive, with no evidence of disease for 69 months after diagnosis. We describe an additional case of EGCC and review the data of the literature, emphasizing the need to strictly define the criteria for the diagnosis and the potential usefulness of assessing biologic parameters for the prognostic characterization of this rare entity.

Non-endometrioid carcinomas of the uterine corpus: a review of their pathology with emphasis on recent advances and problematic aspects

This review considers the clinical and pathologic features of the various histologic subtypes of endometrial carcinoma excluding those of pure endometrioid type, as the latter tumors were the subject of a previous contribution in the Journal (Vol. 9, No. 2). Non-endometrioid carcinomas, which account for about 10% of endometrial carcinomas, may pose a great array of problems in differential diagnosis, including their distinction not only from benign lesions but also endometrioid carcinoma and various tumors that may secondarily involve the uterine corpus. The most common subtypes are serous, mucinous, and undifferentiated. Rarer tumors are clear cell, squamous, transitional cell carcinomas, and a variety of poorly differentiated carcinomas with unusual forms of differentiation, such as hepatoid carcinoma, carcinomas with trophoblastic elements, and giant cell carcinoma. Mixed carcinomas, which are common, are also discussed, including those with a component of endometrioid carcinoma. The final section deals with endometrial involvement by metastatic tumors, lesions that, albeit rare, are sometimes neglected in the differential diagnosis of endometrial carcinomas. Important aspects emphasized are: (1) The potential for serous carcinoma to be mimicked by various forms of papillary endometrioid carcinoma. (2) The rarity of clear cell carcinoma and the greater frequency of clear cells in endometrioid carcinoma. (3) The frequency of mucinous epithelium in tumors of mixed cell type. (4) The frequency with which neoplastic mucinous epithelium originates from the endometrium. (5) The striking degree of differentiation of some squamous cell carcinomas. (6) The occasional predominance of non-endometrioid carcinomas (especially serous or undifferentiated carcinoma) within malignant mullerian mixed tumors. (7) The spectrum of reactive epithelial changes and other non-neoplastic abnormalities that may mimic serous or clear cell carcinoma.

Glassy Cell Carcinoma of the Endometrium

Endometrial glassy cell carcinoma (GCC) is a rare neoplasm, with 11 cases reported in the literature. Although GCC is considered to be a poorly differentiated variant of adenosquamous carcinoma, its real nature is still debatable. We report a case of GCC of the endometrium in a 60-year-old woman and review the literature. The patient presented with vaginal bleeding, and pelvic computed tomographic scan showed a polypoid lesion in the uterine fundus. Histologically, the tumor showed 2 components: a moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma with extensive areas of squamous metaplasia (adenoacanthoma) and a GCC. The clinical stage of the patient's disease was IB as classified by the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics. She was treated by a total abdominal hysterectomy, bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, and pelvic radiation therapy. The patient was still alive and free of disease at 5 years of follow-up.

Glassy cell carcinoma of the endometrium

A case of glassy cell carcinoma of the endometrium in a 62-year-old woman is reported. Microscopically, a cytoplasm of ground-glass appearance was observed with a distinct cell wall and large nuclei containing prominent nucleoli. These histologic characteristics are consistent with those of glassy cell carcinoma of the cervix. Treatment consisted of total abdominal hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy with pelvic lymph node dissection followed by external irradiation to the whole pelvis. The patient was alive without evidence of disease at 5 1/2 years.

Glassy cell carcinoma of the endometrium responsive to megestrol acetate

A case of glassy cell carcinoma of the endometrium with pulmonary metastasis was responsive to treatment with a progestational agent. We believe this to be the first reported case of glassy cell carcinoma of the endometrium responsive to this form of therapy.

Adenocarcinoma of the endometrium with glassy-cell features--immunohistochemical observations

A case of adenocarcinoma of the endometrium with glassy-cell features is reported and histochemical and immunohistochemical data are provided together with a review of the relevant literature. The microscopical features of glassy-cell carcinoma appear to be highly characteristic and diagnostic. The tumour is considered to be a distinctive and poorly differentiated type of adenosquamous carcinoma originating in the cervix or the endometrium. We studied the expression of several differentiating characteristics and detected the presence of secretory component and lysozyme in some tumour cells, whereas keratin and prekeratin were consistently absent. Since in normal uterine mucosa immunoreactivity for lysozyme is restricted to endocervical and isthmic epithelium, the presence of this antigen in the tumour would favour an endocervical or isthmic origin of the tumour cells. Furthermore our results suggest that this peculiar type of tumour is not poorly differentiated and that the assertion that glassy-cell carcinoma is a variant of adenosquamous carcinoma is open to doubt.

Metaplasias and neoplasias of Müllerian epithelium

The three primary epithelia of the Müllerian system are correlated with the three anatomic divisions of that system. Exceptions to normally expected associations and complicating factors including squamous epithelia and clear cells are discussed. A rationale for anticipating these anomalies is offered, and a plea is made for a diagnostic system which will accommodate both the cell type of Müllerian tumours and their anatomic location.