Invasive Micropapillary Carcinoma of the Uterine Cervix

Abstract

We herein present a case of uterine cervical invasive micropapillary carcinoma (IMPC) in a 35-year-old woman. She had neither specific symptoms nor any previous gynecological history. A cervical punch biopsy revealed a high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion and concurrent intestinal-type mucinous carcinoma. Based on the preoperative diagnosis of endocervical adenocarcinoma, she underwent radical hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy and bilateral pelvic lymph node dissection. Grossly, there was an ovoid, slightly elevated mass with surface nodularity in the lower endocervix, measuring 10 × 8 mm. Histologically, the tumor consisted predominantly of tufts of tumor cells arranged in micropapillary structures devoid of fibrovascular cores and surrounded by clear, empty, lacunar spaces between tumor cell nests and stroma. The IMPC component comprised 90% of the entire tumor volume. The greatest dimension and stromal invasion depth of the IMPC were 8 and 3 mm, respectively (FIGO stage IA2). Immunostaining revealed that mucin 1 (MUC1) surrounded each micropapillary structure, indicating the reverse epithelial polarity of the glandular cells. MUC1 was localized predominantly in the stroma-facing surface of the cell clusters, accentuating the outlines of the micropapillary structures by forming a distinct, characteristic band on this surface. In addition, targeted sequencing analysis of the IMPC revealed a missense PIK3CA mutation (c.1633G>A). In summary, we present the clinicopathological characteristics of cervical IMPC. We demonstrate for the first time that IMPC of the uterine cervix harbors a pathogenic missense mutation in PIK3CA. Further investigations using larger cohorts of patients are necessary to confirm these findings.

Keywords: Cervix; Immunohistochemistry; Invasive micropapillary carcinoma; Targeted sequencing.