A case of endometrial glassy cell carcinoma: a rare entity which necessitates of better understanding

Endometrial glassy cell carcinoma (EGCC) is a rare neoplasm, accounting for 0.5% of the carcinomas in the endometrium, composed of cells with granular eosinophilic or amphophilic cytoplasm, giving it a ground glass appearance. Till date, only 14 cases of this carcinoma have been reported. In this report, we have described a case of EGCC to help define standard diagnostic criteria and better understand the course, ideal treatment, and accurate prognosis of this disease. We report a case of a 64-year-old woman diagnosed with EGCC after an abnormal pap smear. She underwent a hysteroscopy, which led to the histological diagnosis. Laparotomic total hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy were performed with pelvic lymphadenectomy and peritoneal and omental biopsies. Final pathological examination confirmed the initial diagnosis. Pelvic nodes removed during surgery and peritoneal and omental biopsies were negative for tumor cells. Treatment was considered appropriate and the patient did not require additional therapies. She was subsequently assigned to clinical follow-up and is alive, with no evidence of the disease.

Adenocarcinoma de tipo glassy - cell: una nueva variante de tumor gástrico / "Glassy ­ Cell" like adenocarcinoma: A new variant of gastric tumor

La mayoría de las neoplasias malignas gástricas corresponden histológicamente a adenocarcinomas de tipo difuso o intestinal, siendo otras variedades mucho menos frecuentes. Reportamos un caso de tumor epitelial maligno, cuyas características histológicas y citológicas corresponden a una entidad inusual aunque bien definida que puede aparecer en el cérvix y menos frecuentemente en el endometrio, conocido como adenocarcinoma de la variante glassy - cell. No hemos encontrado ningún reporte previo de este particular tipo de tumor en localización gástrica. Se discuten la histogénesis y los diagnósticos diferenciales.

Most gastric malignancies correspond histologically to adenocarcinomas, either of the intestinal or diffuse type, other tumoral varieties being much less frequent. We report a case of a malignant epithelial tumor, whose histological and cytological characteristics correspond to an unusual, although well defined entity, which may appear in the cervix and less frequently in the endometrium, known as adenocarcinoma of the glassy - cell variety. We have not found any previous reports of this particular.

Treatment of Early Glassy Cell Carcinoma of Uterine Cervix / 대한방사선종양학회지

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical findings, treatment, and outcome of patients with glassy cell carcinoma of cervix. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We reviewed all cases of glassy cell carcinima of the uterine cervix confirmed and treated at the Dongsan Medical Center, Keimyung University, between January 1993 and December 2005. There were 7 cases with histopathologically confirmed gassy cell carcinoma. A tumor was diagnosed as glassy cell carcinoma if over 50% of the tumor cell type displayed glassy cell features. Six patients with stage IB had radical hysterectomy and bilateral pelvic node dissection, and 2 of them received adjuvant external pelvic irradiation with concurrent chemotherapy. Remaining one patient with stage IIA had curative concurrent chemoradiotherapy with external pelvic irradiation and brachytherapy. RESULTS: There were 7 patients diagnosed as glassy cell carcinoma among the 3,745 (0.2%) patients of carcinoma of uterine cervix. The mean age of 7 patients was 44 years with range of 35 to 53 years of age. The most frequent symptom was vaginal bleeding (86%). By the punch biopsy undertaken before treatment of 7 cases, 2 only cases could diagnose as glassy cell carcinoma of uterine cervix, but remaining of them confirmed by surgical pathological examination. The mean follow up duration was 73 months with range of 13 to 150 months. All 7 patients were alive without disease after treatment. CONCLUSION: Glassy cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix is a distinct clinicopathologic entity that demonstrates an aggressive biologic behavior. However for early-stage disease, we may have more favorable clinical outcome with radical surgery followed by chemoradiothery.

A Case of Glassy Cell Carcinoma of the Uterine Cervix with Photodynamic Therapy prior to Radical Surgery / 대한산부인과학회잡지

It has been known that glassy cell carcinoma (GCC) of uterine cervix is rare and rapidly progressive, and has a poor prognosis. Here we describe a case of GCC in which photodynamic therapy (PDT) was performed prior to radical hysterectomy. The patient, a 42 year-old woman at the stage of FIGO Ib2 underwent interstitial PDT (Photogem, 2 mg/kg; light, p=100 mV, W=100 J/cm2, 15 min/each 4 direction). The cervical lesion displayed inflammation and necrosis at 48 h following PDT. At 2 weeks post PDT, inflammatory reaction was disappeared and the tumor volume was decreased. No side effects of PDT were also observed. Subsequently, the patient underwent radical hysterectomy and pelvic lymph node resection. This case suggests that PDT prior to radical surgery might be an effective way to reduce tumor size without any side effects. More cycles of PDT might be beneficial for treating GCC of the uterine cervix.

A Case of Vulvar Glassy Cell Carcinoma / 대한산부인과학회잡지

Vulvar glassy cell carcinoma (GCC) is a very rare neoplasm. Although GCC is considered to be a poorly differentiated variant of adenosquamous carcinoma, its real nature is still debatable. We report a case of GCC of the vulva in a 53-year-old woman and review the literatures. The patient had bleeding from the lesion of the vulva and pelvic MRI revealed left inguinal lymph node enlargement. Histologically a cytoplasm of ground glass appearance was observed with a distinct cell wall and large nucleus containing prominent nucleoli. The clinical stage of the tumor was III as classified by the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO). She was treated by a left hemivulvectomy and bilateral inguinal lymphadenectomy and followed by external irradiation to the pelvis and left inguinal area. The patient was still alive without evidence of disease after 12 months treatment.

A Case of Glassy Cell Carcinoma of the Uterine Cervix / 대한부인종양콜포스코피학회잡지

Glassy cell carcinoma (GCC) of the uterine cervix is a rare and highly malignant tumor, accounting for only 1%~2% of all cervical carcinomas. It is typically composed of malignant cells having a moderate amount of cytoplasm with "ground glass" appearance, distinct cell membranes that stain with eosin or periodic acid-Schiff, and large nuclei with prominent nucleoli. Since its original description in 1956 by Glucletmann and Cherry, 200 - 250 cases of GCC of the uterine cervix have been listed in the literature. We report here the clinicopathological study of one case of glassy cell carcinoma with brief review of the literature.

What is the Appropriate Infusion Rate during Whitaker Test in Children ?

An extremely unusual case of epidermoid cyst showing diffuse parakeratosis and aggressive clinical behavior is presented. A destructive bone lesion with surrounding ill-defined soft tissue lesion was found by computed tomography in a 63 year-old man complaining of painful swelling of the right buttock. He had a history of surgical excision twice for epidermoid cysts of soft tissue of the right hip during recent one year. On aspiration cytology, the aspirate was highly cellular and mostly composed of desquamated nucleated squamous cells. Operation finding revealed that the iliac bone was irregularly destroyed and filled with gray-white cheesy material and necrotic bone debris. Adjacent gluteus muscle showed scattered gray-white lesions. The curettage specimen showed bone necrosis and desquamated squamous cells filling the marrow spaces. The lesion within muscle revealed epidermoid cyst with diffuse parakeratosis.

Cytologic Features of Glassy Cell Carcinoma of the Uterine Cervix: Three Cases Report / 대한세포병리학회지

Glassy cell carcinoma is an unusual neoplasm of the uterine cervix that accounts for 1~2% of all cervical malignancy. It is a rapidly progressive and biologically aggressive disease with poor response to therapy. This tumor is considered to be a poorly differentiated mixed adenosquamous carcinoma. The cytologic findings are characterized by tumor cells arranged predominantly in syncytial like aggregates and an inflammatory background. The tumor cells have moderate amounts of eosinophilic or amphophilic cytoplasm, which is often finely granular. The nuclei are relatively large and have fine chromatin with prominent eosinophilic nucleoli. Cytologically, glassy cell carcinoma is most likely to be confused with large cell nonkeratinizing squamous cell carcinoma and with atypical reparative cells. Herein, we report three cases of glassy cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix diagnosed by cervicovaginal smear and confirmed by histologic section with review of literatures.

Cytologic features of glassy cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix / 대한세포병리학회지

Glassy cell carcinoma is an unusual neoplasm of the uterine cervix with highly aggressive clinical behavior. On cervico-vaginal smear examination, the tumor has well confused of atypical repair cell of the endocervix. Recently, we have experienced two cases of glassy cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix, diagnosed on cervico-vaginal smears and confirmed on following histologic sections. The cervico-vaginal smears revealed abundant clusters with well defined boarders. The cell clusters were composed of large tumor cells. The tumor cells had distinct granular cytoplasm and eosinophilic macronucleoli. Characteristic cytologic features of this tumor were discussed in view of differential diagnosis.