Papillary squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix: a report of two cases with human papillomavirus 16 DNA

Value of loop electrosurgical excision procedure conization and imaging for the diagnosis of papillary squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix

Background

Loop electrosurgical excision procedure (LEEP) conization and hysterectomy are performed for some patients with papillary squamous cell carcinoma (PSCC), whereas only hysterectomy is performed for others. We aimed to determine the optimal management for PSCC.

Methods

Patients diagnosed with PSCC by colposcopy-directed biopsy between June 2008 and January 2020 who underwent LEEP conization and hysterectomy or only hysterectomy at our hospital were enrolled. Results of cervical cytology, high-risk human papillomavirus testing, transvaginal sonography, pelvic magnetic resonance imaging, LEEP, hysterectomy, and pathology testing of colposcopy-directed biopsy samples were analyzed.

Results

A total of 379 women were diagnosed with PSCC by colposcopy-directed biopsy; 174 underwent LEEP before hysterectomy and 205 underwent only hysterectomy. Patients underwent and did not undergo LEEP were aged 47 ± 11 years and 52 ± 11 years, respectively. Among women who underwent LEEP, the agreement between LEEP and hysterectomy pathology was 85.1%. For women who underwent only hysterectomy, the agreement between preoperative clinical staging and pathological staging after hysterectomy was 82.4%. For patients with preoperative imaging indicative of malignancy, the accuracy of LEEP for diagnosing and staging PSCC was 88.5%, whereas for the hysterectomy-only group, it was 86.2%. For patients without malignancy detected with imaging, the accuracy of LEEP for diagnosing and staging PSCC was 81.6%; however, for those who did not undergo LEEP, it was 70.0%.

Conclusion

For women diagnosed with PSCC by colposcopy-directed biopsy, LEEP conization is necessary for an accurate diagnosis when imaging does not indicate cancer; however, LEEP is not necessary when imaging indicates cancer.

Papillary Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Uterine Cervix: Biopsy Samples Frequently Underrepresent the Presence of Stromal Invasion

Papillary squamous cell carcinoma is a rare variant of squamous cell carcinoma, histologically characterized by thin or broad papillae lined by epithelium showing the features of high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion. Given the exophytic nature of these neoplasms, the diagnosis, assessment and quantification of invasion may be difficult in small biopsies. The goal of this study was to determine the presence and extent of cervical stromal invasion by comparing biopsy samples with excisional specimens in a cohort of patients diagnosed with papillary squamous cell carcinoma. Cases were identified from the surgical pathology files between the years 2003 and 2018 and only cases in which the patients underwent an excisional procedure following the diagnostic biopsy were included. Eighteen cases were identified. Patients age ranged 21 to 72 yr (mean: 46.2 yr). Review of the initial, presurgical biopsies showed that 17/18 (94%) patients had no evidence of stromal invasion. In the surgical excision specimens (2 cone biopsies, 1 loop electrosurgical excision procedure, and 15 hysterectomies), 13 cases (76.5%) showed invasive squamous cell carcinoma. Tumor sizes ranged 1.0 to 6.1 cm; stromal invasion ranged in depth 0.2 to 2.2 cm (median: 1.2), and in horizontal length 0.3 to 4.0 cm (median: 2.01). Papillary squamous cell carcinoma is a rare variant of squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix that may impose some diagnostic difficulties in small biopsies. Our findings demonstrated that the significant majority of cases might only show the presence of invasive cancer in excisional samples. Awareness of this data is important to guide proper management and avoid under-treatment.

Clinical approaches to treating papillary squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix

Background

Papillary squamous cell carcinoma (PSCC) of the uterine cervix is difficult to diagnose due to its rarity and limited data regarding its clinical behavior. We attempted to assess the degree of stromal invasion using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and evaluate possible treatments for this lesion in view of its clinical behavior.

Methods

We analyzed 28 cases of PSCC diagnosed on the colposcopic selective biopsies. We studied the rate of accuracy of diagnoses of the colposcopic selective biopsies compared with the final diagnoses, and compared the rate of stromal invasion between the MRI and pathological findings while focusing on surgical methods and the clinical prognosis.

Results

Of the 28 patients, only 12 exhibited true PSCC. The other 16 patients were ultimately diagnosed with SCC or adenosquamous carcinoma based on the finding of the surgical specimens and exhibited relatively poor prognoses. Among the 12 true PSCC cases, the rate of diagnostic accuracy of stromal invasion (with or without) was only 58% (7/12) on the colposcopic selective biopsies. However, we were able to predict the presence of stromal invasion (microscopic borderline: approximately 3 mm) before surgery using MRI. None of the 10 patients treated with radical surgery displayed lymph node metastases. In addition, all 12 study patients exhibited no recurrence (mean: 49 months) and survived.

Conclusions

MRI can be used to detect preinvasive and microinvasive disease before surgery. It is possible to select a less invasive surgical method than radical surgery in cases of preinvasive and microinvasive PSCC in view of the indolent clinical behavior of this disease.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1471-2407-14-784) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Papillary squamotransitional cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix: A histomorphological and immunohistochemical study of nine cases

BACKGROUND

Papillary squamotransitional cell carcinoma (PSCC) is a distinctive subcategory of squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix. It has a propensity for local recurrence and late metastasis. Histologically, it can be misinterpreted as transitional cell carcinoma, or other papillary lesions of the cervix including squamous papilloma, verrucous carcinoma or cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 3 with papillary configuration.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Nine cases of PSCC of the uterine cervix were diagnosed on a cervical biopsy specimen on routine hematoxylin and eosin (H and E) stained sections. Their clinic-morphological features were analyzed. The cases were further evaluated immunohistochemically by cytokeratin 7 (CK7), cytokeratin 20 (CK20), p53 and Ki-67.

RESULTS

The patients ranged in age from 35 years to 75 years; with abnormal uterine bleeding being the most common clinical presentation. All the cases showed papillary architecture with fibrovascular cores lined by multilayered atypical epithelium. Three cell types were observed: Clear, intermediate and basaloid. Stromal invasion was seen in five cases, whereas in the remaining four cases, the biopsy specimen was too superficial to definitely assess invasion. Immunohistochemically, eight cases were CK7(+)/CK20(-) and one case was CK7(-)/CK20(-). All nine cases showed nuclear accumulation of mutant p53. Moderate and high proliferative activity was observed in two and seven cases, respectively. Five of patients for whom follow-up information was available underwent radical hysterectomy and two of them were disease free 18 months following treatment.

CONCLUSION

PSCC of the uterine cervix are a clinicomorphologically distinct group of cervical lesions that display a morphologic spectrum. They are potentially aggressive malignant tumors that should be distinguished from transitional cell carcinoma and other papillary lesions of the uterine cervix.

Papillary squamotransitional cell carcinoma of the vagina

A case of a papillary squamotransitional cell carcinoma (PSTCC) of the vagina with a follow-up of 3 years is presented here. The characteristics of this case support a squamous rather than urothelial origin of this rare entity. Unlike its counterparts in the cervix uteri, the clinical behavior of vaginal PSTCC is more favorable than squamous cell carcinoma. Histological and clinical features are compared to those of previously described cases of vaginal and cervical PSTCC.