Detection of tumor cells of serous tubal intraepithelial carcinoma (STIC) in cervical smears and rapid development of the ovarian involvement: A case report

Diagn Cytopathol. 2018 Nov;46(11):945-949. doi: 10.1002/dc.23957. Epub 2018 Oct 30.

Abstract

Serous tubal intraepithelial carcinoma (STIC) has attracted attention as a precursor lesion of high-grade serous carcinoma (HGSC) of the ovary. We report the rare case of a woman in whom adenocarcinoma cells were detected in cervical smears and demonstrated to be derived from STIC in the fimbria. The patient was a 48-year-old woman, in whom cervical smears contained adenocarcinoma cells, but cervical conization did not reveal adenocarcinoma. Because the post-conization smears again demonstrated adenocarcinoma cells, hysterectomy with bilateral salpingectomy was performed 16 months after the first detection of adenocarcinoma cells in cervical smears. Histopathological examination demonstrated STIC in the fimbria of the left fallopian tube. Bilateral ovaries appeared grossly normal at that time, but oophorectomy, which was performed 3 months later, disclosed HGSC involving the surface of bilateral ovaries. Detection of carcinoma cells from STIC in cervical smears is of marked significance for the management of patients, and we should keep in mind the possibility that adenocarcinoma cells in cervical smears are derived from STIC. The postoperative outcome of patients with STIC is considered generally favorable, and the clinical course of the present patient, in whom HGSC involving the bilateral ovaries was found shortly after salpingectomy, is exceptional.

Keywords: adenocarcinoma cells; cervical smear; cytology; p53; serous tubal intraepithelial carcinoma.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Adenocarcinoma / pathology*
  • Carcinoma in Situ / pathology*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Middle Aged
  • Ovarian Neoplasms / pathology*
  • Vaginal Smears