Clinical outcome of stage Ia1 squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix and pathological findings of initial conization.

AIM: The present study investigated the clinical outcome of stage Ia1 squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the uterine cervix at a single institute. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Subjects were 84 patients with cervical SCC, International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stage Ia1 diagnosed according to conization findings between January 2000 and June 2009. Correlations between clinical outcome and pathological findings on initial conization were investigated. RESULTS: Of 65 hysterectomy (without pelvic lymphadenectomy) patients, two (3.1%) showed metastasis to the vaginal wall, and two (3.1%) to the pelvic lymph nodes. Five patients (6.0%) showed lymphovascular invasion, and three (3.6%) showed confluent patterns of stromal invasion (confluent invasion) on initial conization findings. All of these five patients were included in the hysterectomy group. Of 19 patients with conization alone, two showed vaginal metastasis. Of four patients with vaginal metastasis, two showed lymphovascular invasion and one showed confluent invasion despite negative conization margin. In patients with nodal metastasis, stromal invasion of 3.0 mm and 2.8 mm, and horizontal spread of 6.8 mm and 6.9 mm were observed on conization, respectively. All patients are currently alive due to adequa\e therapy including chemo-radiation for six patients with recurrent disease. CONCLUSIONS: In patients showing stromal invasion of nearly 3.0 mm and horizontal spread of nearly 7.0 mm in stage Ia1 cervical SCC, pelvic lymphadenectomy may be considered. Even for patients showing a negative conization margin, careful follow up is necessary, because vaginal metastasis sometimes occurs.

Ovarian large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma.

Ovarian large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (LCNC) is a rare disease that is commonly associated with a surface epithelial and germ cell neoplasm component. A 46-year-old woman presented with a pelvic mass measuring 15 cm in diameter. She underwent an exploratory laparotomy with resection of the pelvic mass. Diffuse and nodular intra-abdominal disseminations were observed. Stage III LCNC associated with squamous differentiation alone of the right ovary was diagnosed. The patient died of progressive disease 4 months postoperatively despite paclitaxel and carboplatin therapy. Ovarian LCNC associated with squamous differentiation component alone has never been reported, but its prognosis may be poor.