Cervical carcinoma metastatic to the skull, heart, and lungs: analysis for human papillomavirus DNA

In this case report we present a 21-year-old patient with stage IV cervical carcinoma metastatic to the skull at the time of diagnosis. The patient had two previous negative Pap smears performed 10 months and 15 months prior to the time of diagnosis. Postmortem examination 2 months following diagnosis showed cardiac and pulmonary metastases. Human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA was detected in the primary cervical tumor and skull metastasis, but absent in the cardiac and pulmonary metastases. This study details the first report in the medical literature of a skull metastasis present at the time of diagnosis of cervical carcinoma. It also represents the first report of HPV-negative metastases arising from an HPV-positive cervical cancer.