[Clinico-pathologic study on the early diagnosis of cervical adenocarcinoma]

We studied 94 cases of adenocarcinoma of the uterine cervix, with emphasis on early diagnosis of cervical adenocarcinoma, histopathologically. The results are as follows: The number of cases was 4 in Stage 0 (adenocarcinoma in situ, ACIS), 51 in Stage I, and 39 in Stage II. The proportion of ACIS to invasive adenocarcinoma was 4 of 94 (4.26%) and was significantly lower than that of cervical squamous cell carcinoma. Thirty-nine cervical biopsies of 29 cases, taken 1-3 years prior to the clinical presentation of cancer, were available for study. In 2 of 16 "negative specimens", areas of glandular dysplasia were found on review. Areas of ACIS and adenocarcinoma with early stromal invasion were also found on review in 5 and in 2 of 14 specimens diagnosed as atypical glands, respectively. This study strongly suggests that "atypical glands" such as glandular dysplasia and ACIS are precursor lesions of invasive adenocarcinoma of the uterine cervix and that the delay in diagnosing cervical adenocarcinoma may be due partly to "underdiagnosis" of cervical biopsy specimens.