The morphogenesis of adenocarcinoma of the cervix-a complex pathological entity

The cytological and histological features of 20 cases of adenocarcinoma of the cervix are presented of which 14 cases were in situ and two were microinvasive. The frequent association of atypia with malignancies of the cervical squamous epithelium is stressed. Abnormal reserve or stem cells were found in many of these cases. This study demonstrates the importance of the proper identification of these cells in cytological material and gives support to the theory that these cells play a role as a precursor cell to squamous and glandular neoplasms.