Clinical significance of argyrophilia in endometrial carcinomas

The clinical significance of argyrophilia in endometrial carcinomas was studied in 187 patients with the endometrioid form of adenocarcinoma. Argyrophil cells were tentatively subgrouped into two types: type I cells resembling the enterochromaffin cells and type II cells loaded with argyrophil granules in the apical portion or throughout the cytoplasm. The patients with endometrial carcinoma containing argyrophil cells were associated more frequently with hypertension and diabetes mellitus than those with usual endometrial carcinoma. In grade 1 carcinomas, argyrophilia was parallel with the frequency of metastases to lymph nodes and with the degree of myometrial invasions. Also, a life table showed a worse survival rate in grade 1 carcinomas with argyrophilia, especially of type I, than in those without it. Although argyrophilia was considered to be at least one of the minor prognostic factors, further clinicopathologic studies are needed in relation to a more proper subtyping of argyrophil cells.