Immunohistochemical findings in primary fallopian tube cancer. Case report

Eur J Gynaecol Oncol. 2010;31(1):120-2.

Abstract

Primary fallopian tube carcinoma is a rare malignancy, representing about 1% of female genital tract malignancies. We present a case report and compare the medical performance with accessible data from the literature as well as present immunohistochemical analysis of estrogen, progesterone, and proliferative together with basic cytokeratin reactions. We found that immunohistochemical expression of ER-beta was dominant over ER-alpha which encourages further evaluations to be performed on a larger number of samples, especially taking into account the very scant progesterone receptor expression we noted. On the basis of the course of disease under study, etiological problems and the possibility of clinical misdiagnosis have been discussed. The low prevalence rate and lack of clear symptoms of this type of carcinoma makes the final clinical diagnosis almost impossible without an intraoperative histopathological study. Multicenter studies are needed to improve the understanding of possible risk factors.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Carcinoma, Papillary / chemistry*
  • Carcinoma, Papillary / diagnosis
  • Carcinoma, Papillary / pathology
  • Estrogen Receptor alpha / analysis
  • Estrogen Receptor beta / analysis
  • Fallopian Tube Neoplasms / chemistry*
  • Fallopian Tube Neoplasms / diagnosis
  • Fallopian Tube Neoplasms / pathology
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Immunohistochemistry
  • Keratins / analysis
  • Receptors, Progesterone / analysis

Substances

  • Estrogen Receptor alpha
  • Estrogen Receptor beta
  • Receptors, Progesterone
  • Keratins