Detection of pulmonary metastasis of low-grade endometrial stromal sarcoma 25 years after hysterectomy

Pathol Res Pract. 2000;196(2):129-34. doi: 10.1016/S0344-0338(00)80045-X.

Abstract

Endometrial stromal sarcoma (ESS) is a rare uterine sarcoma. Low-grade ESS occasionally recurs or metastasizes after long disease-free periods, a fact that may complicate the diagnosis. Here we report a case of multiple lung metastases in a 68-year-old woman who had been disease-free for 25 years after hysterectomy for a uterine tumor. Biopsy revealed that the tumor was composed of oval cells with slight nuclear atypism but without mitotic figures, suggesting a low-grade neoplasm. Immunostaining for intermediate filaments revealed strong positivity for vimentin and weak positivity for alpha-smooth muscle actin. In addition, immunostaining for estrogen and progesterone receptors, performed under suspicion of low-grade ESS, was positive. The uterine tumor resected many years before had shown a similar morphology. Thus, it was demonstrated that the lung neoplasm was a metastatic low-grade ESS that had appeared after many disease-free years. A review of the literature revealed that this case had the longest recorded interval between the occurrence of the initial ESS and the development of distant metastases. When low-grade sarcoma appears in the lungs of female patients, it is important to consider the possibility of low-grade ESS. Detailed information on the past clinical history, together with immunostaining for estrogen and progesterone receptors, are important diagnostic keys.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Disease-Free Survival
  • Endometrial Neoplasms / pathology*
  • Endometrial Neoplasms / surgery
  • Fatal Outcome
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Hysterectomy
  • Lung Neoplasms / diagnosis
  • Lung Neoplasms / diagnostic imaging
  • Lung Neoplasms / secondary*
  • Middle Aged
  • Radiography, Thoracic
  • Sarcoma, Endometrial Stromal / diagnostic imaging
  • Sarcoma, Endometrial Stromal / secondary*
  • Sarcoma, Endometrial Stromal / surgery
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed