Papillary squamotransitional cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix: report of three cases and review of the literature

Papillary squamotransitional cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix: a case report and review of the literature

Background

Papillary squamotransitional cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix is a rare neoplasm, a subtype of transitional cervical carcinoma that appears to be a variation of squamous cervical carcinoma. It has a disposition toward metastasis at an advanced stage and local recurrence. Owing to the difficulty of illustrating the invasion histologically, misdiagnosis is likely to affect the patient’s prognosis.

Case presentation

We present a case report of an 81-year-old Caucasian patient with squamotransitional cell carcinoma with unusual clinical behavior that was primarily thought to be ovarian cancer. According to the clinical examination and radiologic imaging, the patient had no vaginal bleeding and a normal cervix. Nevertheless, the tumor was already metastasized at the retroperitoneal tissue and at the right ovary. Computed tomography-guided biopsy of the right adnexa gave no further clarification. Although the tumor resembled urothelial cancer, this diagnosis was dismissed because of the results of immunohistochemistry analysis with CK7⁺, CK5⁺, and CK20⁻. Because of the differential diagnosis of ovarian cancer, we decided in favor of an exploratory surgical approach. Hysterectomy with bilateral adnexectomy, extensive retroperitoneal tumor debulking, and infragastric omentectomy was performed by laparotomy. Histopathology revealed a squamotransitional cervical cancer as the primary tumor with a tumor stage of pT3b, pN1 (1/2), V0, RX, G2, corresponding to International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stage IIIB.

Conclusions

As far as we are aware, this is the first report of papillary squamotransitional cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix metastatic to the ovary without vaginal bleeding and with a clinically and radiologically unsuspicious cervix. Physicians should always contemplate papillary squamotransitional cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix in unclear cases with ovarian metastasis, especially if the histology indicates a transitional cancer (CK7⁺ and CK20⁻), before proceeding with treatment. More cases are needed to illuminate the clinical characteristics and categorization of papillary squamotransitional cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix.

Papillary Squamotransitional Cell Carcinoma of the Uterine Cervix: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

Introduction. Papillary squamotransitional cell carcinoma (PSTCC) is an uncommon histopathological variant of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the uterine cervix, which occurs in postmenopausal women. Presentation of Case. Herein, we describe a case of a 63-year-old woman who presented with 4-month history of postmenopausal vaginal bleeding. Vaginal examination revealed a fragile lesion of size 1 × 1 cm invading left posterior vaginal fornice and parametrium. Biopsy showed the presence of papillae containing fibrovascular cores lined by multilayered atypical epithelial cells resembling squamous and transitional cell epithelium, confirming the diagnosis of PSTCC of the uterine cervix. After staging work-up she was staged according to the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) staging system 2009 as FIGO IIB, and she was started on extended field concurrent chemoradiation. Discussion. PSTCC of the uterine cervix is an extremely rare and aggressive entity. PSTCC is often characterized by the presence of papillary structures with prominent fibrovascular cores. PSTCC of the uterine cervix should be differentiated from transitional cell carcinoma, squamous papilloma, papillary adenocarcinoma, and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia with papillary features. Conclusion. PSTCC of the uterine cervix is a diagnostic challenge; further studies regarding the mechanism underlying the development of PSCC are warranted.

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.