Primary Endometrial High Grade Neuroendocrine Carcinoma: A Case Report with Cytological, Histopathological and Immunohistochemical Features

Abstract

An 84-year-old woman suffered from post-menopausal genital bleeding for 3 months. Based on the endometrial cytological findings (suggestive of high grade neuroendocrine carcinoma) showing that there were rosette-like and cord-like structures consisting of small rounded tumor cells with oval nuclei and scanty cytoplasm, radical hysterectomy was performed. Histopathological and immunohistochemical examinations on the operated specimens revealed primary high grade neuroendocrine carcinoma of the endometrium. Despite the extensive treatment against the malignancy, the patient died due to widespread metastases after 5 months after the surgery and autopsied.

Share and Cite:

Kobayashi, K. , Matsuyama, M. , Etori, F. , Kawaguchi, N. , Nambu, K. , Sekiya, A. , Hiraku, Y. , Yamamoto, K. , Watanabe, N. , Yamada, T. and Tanaka, T. (2015) Primary Endometrial High Grade Neuroendocrine Carcinoma: A Case Report with Cytological, Histopathological and Immunohistochemical Features. Open Journal of Pathology, 5, 1-7. doi: 10.4236/ojpathology.2015.51001.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1] Atienza-Amores, M., Guerini-Rocco, E., Soslow, R.A., Park, K.J. and Weigelt, B. (2014) Small Cell Carcinoma of the Gynecologic Tract: A Multifaceted Spectrum of Lesions. Gynecologic Oncology, 134, 410-418. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ygyno.2014.05.017
[2] Crowder, S. and Tuller, E. (2007) Small Cell Carcinoma of the Female Genital Tract. Seminars in Oncology, 34, 57-63. http://dx.doi.org/10.1053/j.seminoncol.2006.10.028
[3] Eichhorn, J.H. and Young, R.H. (2001) Neuroendocrine Tumors of the Genital Tract. American Journal of Clinical Pathology, 115 (Suppl 1), S94-112.
[4] Katahira, A., Akahira, J., Niikura, H., Ito, K., Moriya, T., Matsuzawa, S., Makinoda, S., Oda, T., Fujiwara, K. and Yaegashi, N. (2004) Small Cell Carcinoma of the Endometrium: Report of Three Cases and Literature Review. International Journal of Gynecological Cancer, 14, 1018-1023.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1048-891X.2004.14545.x
[5] Campo, E., Brunier, M.N. and Merino, M.J. (1992) Small Cell Carcinoma of the Endometrium with Associated Ocular Paraneoplastic Syndrome. Cancer, 69, 2283-2288.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/1097-0142(19920501)69:9<2283::AID-CNCR2820690913>3.0.CO;2-V
[6] Sato, H., Kanai, G., Kajiwara, H., Itoh, J. and Osamura, R.Y. (2010) Small-Cell Carcinoma of the Endometrium Presenting as Cushing’s Syndrome. Endocrine Journal, 57, 31-38.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1507/endocrj.K09E-212
[7] van Meerbeeck, J.P., Fennell, D.A. and De Ruysscher, D.K. (2011) Small-Cell Lung Cancer. Lancet, 378, 1741-1755. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(11)60165-7
[8] Marioni, G., Savastano, M., Mattiello, L., Koussis, H., Carpene, S., Marino, F. and Staffieri, A. (2007) Tongue Base Metastasis from Neuroendocrine Endometrial Small Cell Carcinoma. American Journal of Otolaryngology, 28, 284-287. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.amjoto.2006.09.011
[9] Sakamoto, H., Takenaka, M., Ushimaru, K. and Tanaka, T. (2012) Use of Liquid-Based Cytology (LBC) and Cell Blocks from Cell Remnants for Cytologic, Immunohistochemical, and Immunocytochemical Diagnosis of Malignancy. Open Journal of Pathology, 2, 58-65.
http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/ojpathology.2012.23012
[10] Ishida, M., Iwamoto, N., Nakagawa, T., Kaku, S., Iwai, M., Kagotani, A., Takahashi, K., Murakami, T. and Okabe, H. (2014) Small Cell Carcinoma of the Endometrium: A Case Report with Emphasis on the Cytological Features. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Pathology, 7, 3332-3337.
[11] Proca, D., Keyhani-Rofagha, S., Copeland, L.J. and Hameed, A. (1998) Exfoliative Cytology of Neuroendocrine Small Cell Carcinoma of the Endometrium. A Report of Two Cases. Acta Cytologica, 42, 978-982. http://dx.doi.org/10.1159/000331980
[12] Kurman, R.J., Carcangiu, M.L., Herrington, C.S. and Young, R.H., Eds. (2014) WHO Classification of Tumours of Female Reproductive Organs. IARC Press, Lyon.
[13] van Hoeven, K.H., Hudock, J.A., Woodruff, J.M. and Suhrland, M.J. (1995) Small Cell Neuroendocrine Carcinoma of the Endometrium. International Journal of Gynecological Pathology, 14, 21-29.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/00004347-199501000-00005
[14] Huntsman, D.G., Clement, P.B., Gilks, C.B. and Scully, R.E. (1994) Small-Cell Carcinoma of the Endometrium. A Clinicopathological Study of Sixteen Cases. The American Journal of Surgical Pathology, 18, 364-375. http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/00000478-199404000-00005
[15] Albores-Saavedra, J., Martinez-Benitez, B. and Luevano, E. (2008) Small Cell Carcinomas and Large Cell Neuroendocrine Carcinomas of the Endometrium and Cervix: Polypoid Tumors and Those Arising in Polyps May Have a Favorable Prognosis. International Journal of Gynecological Pathology, 27, 333-339. http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/PGP.0b013e31815de006
[16] Tafe, L.J., Garg, K., Chew, I., Tornos, C. and Soslow, R.A. (2010) Endometrial and Ovarian Carcinomas with Undifferentiated Components: Clinically Aggressive and Frequently Underrecognized Neo- plasms. Modern Pathology, 23, 781-789. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/modpathol.2010.41
[17] Silva, E.G., Deavers, M.T. and Malpica, A. (2007) Undifferentiated Carcinoma of the Endometrium: A Review. Pathology, 39, 134-138. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00313020601159494
[18] Frazier, S.R., Kaplan, P.A. and Loy, T.S. (2007) The Pathology of Extrapulmonary Small Cell Carcinoma. Seminars in Oncology, 34, 30-38. http://dx.doi.org/10.1053/j.seminoncol.2006.11.017
[19] Pearse, A.G. (1979) The Diffuse Endocrine System and the Implications of the APUD Concept. International Surgery, 64, 5-7.
[20] Sivridis, E., Buckley, C.H. and Fox, H. (1984) Argyrophil Cells in Normal, Hyperplastic, and Neoplastic Endometrium. Journal of Clinical Pathology, 37, 378-381. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/jcp.37.4.378
[21] Peifer, M., Fernandez-Cuesta, L., Sos, M.L., George, J., Seidel, D., Kasper, L.H., Plenker, D., Leenders, F., Sun, R., Zander, T., Menon, R., Koker, M., Dahmen, I., Muller, C., Di Cerbo, V., Schildhaus, H.U., Altmuller, J., Baessmann, I., Becker, C., de Wilde, B., Vandesompele, J., Bohm, D., Ansen, S., Gabler, F., Wilkening, I., Heynck, S., Heuckmann, J.M., Lu, X., Carter, S.L., Cibulskis, K., Banerji, S., Getz, G., Park, K.S., Rauh, D., Grutter, C., Fischer, M., Pasqualucci, L., Wright, G., Wainer, Z., Russell, P., Petersen, I., Chen, Y., Stoelben, E., Ludwig, C., Schnabel, P., Hoffmann, H., Muley, T., Brockmann, M., Engel-Riedel, W., Muscarella, L.A., Fazio, V.M., Groen, H., Timens, W., Sietsma, H., Thunnissen, E., Smit, E., Heideman, D.A., Snijders, P.J., Cappuzzo, F., Ligorio, C., Damiani, S., Field, J., Solberg, S., Brustugun, O.T., Lund-Iversen, M., Sanger, J., Clement, J.H., Soltermann, A., Moch, H., Weder, W., Solomon, B., Soria, J.C., Validire, P., Besse, B., Brambilla, E., Brambilla, C., Lantuejoul, S., Lorimier, P., Schneider, P.M., Hallek, M., Pao, W., Meyerson, M., Sage, J., Shendure, J., Schneider, R., Buttner, R., Wolf, J., Nurnberg, P., Perner, S., Heukamp, L.C., Brindle, P.K., Haas, S. and Thomas, R.K. (2012) Integrative Genome Analyses Identify Key Somatic Driver Mutations of Small-Cell Lung Cancer. Nature Genetics, 44, 1104-1110.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ng.2396

Copyright © 2023 by authors and Scientific Research Publishing Inc.

Creative Commons License

This work and the related PDF file are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.