Acantholytic squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix with amyloid deposition

An 84-year-old woman suffered for 1 year from intermittent vaginal bleeding. Clinical examination revealed a large ulcerative cervical tumor that was histologically classified as well-differentiated squamous cell carcinoma. Acantholytic areas, apoptotic cell death, and pronounced amyloid deposition characterized the tumor. No evidence of papilloma virus infection was found in immunohistochemical examination or in nucleic acid in situ hybridization. Amyloid formed globular structures surrounded by neoplastic cells that reacted with cytokeratin antibodies. Although the amyloid itself was not labeled, electron microscopy showed filamentous degeneration of the squamous cells analogous to that described in different types of cutaneous keratin-derived amyloidoses. It was concluded that similar pathogenetic mechanisms are involved both in the cutaneous amyloidosis and in the amyloid deposition of squamous cell carcinoma.