A case of uterine cervical adenocarcinoma associated with small cell carcinoma

Abstract

Extrapulmonary small cell carcinomas are often associated with carcinomas of other cell types. Although a hypothesis that extrapulmonary small cell carcinomas arise from a multipotential stem cell could explain this mixed feature, recent molecular evidence supports another possibility that the small cell component may arise as a late-stage phenomenon in the progression of more organ-typical carcinomas. Here, we report a case of uterine cervical adenocarcinoma containing 30% of small cell carcinoma. Adenocarcinoma was located in the endometrial side of the tumor that was adjacent to the normal cervical region, while small cell carcinoma was located in the periphery of the tumor. The transition from adenocarcinoma to small cell carcinoma was observed in the boundary area. These findings suggest that cervical small cell carcinoma can be differentiated from pre-existing adenocarcinoma and offer further support to the hypothesis that the small cell component arises as a late-stage phenomenon in the progression of more organ-typical carcinomas.

A clinicopathological aspect of primary small-cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix: a single-centre study of 25 cases

“…In the present study, 24% cases of SCCC presented with adenocarcinoma. This mixture phenomenon had been reported previously 18. Hence, the histological heterogeneity might indicate an origin from multipotent reserve cells.…”

“…Histologically, small-cell carcinoma was characterised by neuroendocrine-like architectural patterns, including nested and trabecular growth with common features 16. Some small-cell carcinoma cases included other types of carcinomas such as squamous-cell carcinoma or adenocarcinoma 17 18. In recent years, several studies reported that a non-small-cell-type high-grade neuroendocrine carcinoma of the gastrointerestinal tract was a distinct disease entity 19 20.…”