Pure Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma of the Corpus Uteri: Description of a Case with Increased Serum Level of CA-125

We report a morphological and immunohistochemical study of a case of pure alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma of the uterus in an 80-year-old woman. The diagnostic clues were the characteristic “alveolar” pattern of growth, the evidence of cross-striations in strap or elongated cells with abundant eosinophili...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Gynecologic oncology 1997-08, Vol.66 (2), p.320-323
Main Authors: Chiarle, Roberto, Godio, Laura, Fusi, Donatella, Soldati, Tito, Palestro, Giorgio
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Biological and medical sciences
CA-125 Antigen - blood
Female
Female genital diseases
Gynecology. Andrology. Obstetrics
Humans
Medical sciences
Rhabdomyosarcoma, Alveolar - blood
Rhabdomyosarcoma, Alveolar - pathology
Tumors
Uterine Neoplasms - blood
Uterine Neoplasms - pathology
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Summary:We report a morphological and immunohistochemical study of a case of pure alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma of the uterus in an 80-year-old woman. The diagnostic clues were the characteristic “alveolar” pattern of growth, the evidence of cross-striations in strap or elongated cells with abundant eosinophilic cytoplasms, the presence of multinucleated cells with peripherally placed “wreathlike” nuclei, and the expression of muscular antigens by the tumor cells. A thorough sampling of the tumor excluded areas of other types of heterologous or homologous sarcomas or the presence of coexisting adenoma or carcinoma. The other immunohistochemical data showed a high proliferative rate as well as a high rate of p53 overexpression in the small poorly differentiated rhabdomyoblasts. Interestingly, the large differentiated rhabdomyoblasts expressed CA-125, the antigenic determinant of nonmucinous epithelial ovarian tumors. The clinical course was very aggressive: the patient died 5 months after surgery because of disease progression. The pertinent literature is discussed.
ISSN:0090-8258
1095-6859
DOI:10.1006/gyno.1997.4742