A case of endocervical minimal deviation adenocarcinoma with varicolored cytopathologic features on Pap smear

We report a case of minimal deviation adenocarcinoma (MDA) of the uterine cervix showing varicolored cytopathologic features on Papanicolaou (Pap) smear, which may indicate features suggestive of lobular endocervical glandular hyperplasia (LEGH)-adenocarcinoma sequence. A 57-year-old woman presented with a profuse amount of watery vaginal discharge. Gynecological examination revealed a cervical mass with involvement of the right parametrium. Conventional Pap smear showed hypercellularity consisting of approximately 4 types of clusters as follows: (1) clusters showing a monolayered honeycomb sheet of endocervical cells with golden-yellow mucin and bland nuclei, (2) three-dimensional clusters showing varicolored mucin and irregular nuclear overlapping, (3) irregularly shaped clusters showing distorted chicken-wire-mesh appearance with noticeable protrusions of the nuclei and clear or faint varicolored cytoplasm, and (4) crowded clusters showing scarce mucin and nuclear atypia. The surgically resected uterus revealed LEGH-mimicking lesion with fused papillae and a cribriform pattern in the endocervix and many glands exhibiting gastric differentiation that invaded deeper areas of the stroma with a subtle stromal reaction. Compared with histologic findings, two types of clusters, the crowded cluster with scarce mucin and the cluster with distorted chicken-wire-mesh-type appearance, were considered as adenocarcinoma, and the latter was interpreted as a gastric-type adenocarcinoma. Three-dimensional varicolored type clusters showed atypical features, but insufficient atypical features compared with those of adenocarcinoma. Detection of clusters with varicolored mucin on conventional Pap smear may provide a clue for the early recognition of the malignant potential of LEGH on cytology. The chicken-wire-mesh type clusters may be a characteristic cytologic finding of MDA.