1995 Volume 34 Issue 4 Pages 657-662
In a clinicopathological review of 234 cases of endometrial carcinoma diagnosed in our department between 1980 and 1994, 4 cases of clear cell carcinoma of the endometrium were found representing a frequency of 1.7%.
Histologically, three basic patterns, papillary, tubular and solid, were identified these four cases. There was an admixture of two or even three patterns in all cases. All cases had PAS positive cytoplasmic materials.
The cytologic features of three cases with histologically solid pattern included a sheetlike arrangement and abundant clear cytoplasm. Tumor cells of these cases had oval nuclei with anisonucleosis, fine granular chromatin and conspicuous nucleoli. Based on these findings, it may be relatively easy to differentiate clear cell carcinomas from other endometrial adenocarcinomas cytologically. The cytologic features of one case with a tubular pattern histologically were a “yatsugashira” shaped arrangement and a “marimo” shaped arrangement of tumor cells. These findings may also contribute to the cytological diagnosis of clear cell carcinoma of the endometrium.
