Abstract
Objective: We investigated the clinicopathological and cytological findings of neuroendocrine tumors of the uterine cervix.
Study Design: Seven cases of neuroendocrine tumors were examined, including one case of atypical carcinoid (AC), three cases of large-cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (LCNEC), and three cases of small-cell carcinoma (SmCC). The clinicopathological, cytomorphological and immunohistochemical findings in these cases were compared with those of cases with non-neuroendocrine carcinomas.
Results: AC and SmCC showed a clustered or scattered arrangement of the cells with small nuclei on the smear. LCNEC showed the cells in overlapping clusters with rounded nuclei and irregular-shaped nucleoli, and abundant cytoplasm. The cellular nuclei in SmCC were more oval than those in AC and LCNEC, and the nuclear areas in the LCNEC were the largest among the neuroendocrine tumors. The cytological differential diagnoses of AC and SmCC included adenocarcinoma in situ and the small-cell type of squamous cell carcinoma. The differential diagnoses of LCNEC were invasive adenocarcinoma and the large-cell type of squamous cell carcinoma. Chromogranin A, synaptophysin and CD56 were expressed in 71%, 100% and 100% of the neuroendocrine tumors, respectively.
Conclusion: Neuroendocrine tumors of the cervix were occasionally associated with non-neuroendocrine tumors. When neuroendocrine tumors are suspected, the specimens should be carefully examined focusing on the degree of cell cohesiveness and arrangements, chromatin patterns and the nuclear smearing effect.
