Villoglandular papillary adenocarcinoma of the cervix: case report

The incidence of cervical adenocarcinoma is on the rise over the last several decades. It generally carries a worse prognosis than squamous carcinoma. Villoglandular papillary adenocarcinoma (VGA) of the cervix has been identified as a distinct subset of cervical adenocarcinoma that occurs in young women and supposedly carries an excellent prognosis. We report a case of adenocarcinoma of the cervix in a young woman that had classical histological features of VGA but at operation showed presence of tumor cells in the peritoneal wash. A review of world literature on the 56 cases reported so far is presented where occasional cases showing disease spread have been reported, suggesting caution in the management and follow-up of this clinicopathologic entity.