Microcystic endocervical adenocarcinomas: a report of eight cases

Eight endocervical adenocarcinomas with a prominent cystic component that resulted in a resemblance, in part, to certain benign lesions are described. The patients ranged in age from 34 to 78 years (average age, 48.6 years), and three women were postmenopausal. Presentations included abnormal cervical cytology smears (n = 4) and vaginal bleeding (n = 3). One patient was pregnant at the time of diagnosis. Six tumors were typical endocervical-type and two tumors were intestinal-type adenocarcinomas. The cysts occupied 50% to approximately 90% of the tumor and ranged from 1 to 8 mm in diameter. They were lined by flattened to low cuboidal to pseudostratified epithelium with focal goblet cells and Paneth cells in the two intestinal-type tumors, and the epithelial lining of the cysts was denuded occasionally. Seven tumors contained luminal mucin, which was brightly eosinophilic in one patient and resembled the contents of mesonephric tubules, but was mucin positive on special stains. A desmoplastic stroma was identified in two patients; the remainder had no stromal reaction. The features that resulted in mimicry of benign lesions were the cystic glands, their sometimes orderly distribution, and focal, deceptively bland cytology. All tumors contained, at least focally however, architecturally abnormal glands lined by cytologically malignant cells.