Comparative analysis of endometrial cytology between endometrial serous adenocarcinoma and ovarian or fallopian tubal serous adenocarcinoma

Abstract

Objective: To assess the difference in endometrial cytology between endometrial serous adenocarcinoma and ovarian or fallopian tubal serous adenocarcinoma.
Study design: We retrospectively investigated cytologic specimens of 32 patients with serous adenocarcinoma of the endometrium, who underwent operation at the Cancer Institute Hospital. We selected 21 patients with serous adenocarcinoma of the ovary/fallopian tube whose malignant cells were detected in endometrial cytology. All cell samples were taken by the endometrial aspiration technique.
Result: In serous adenocarcinoma of the endometrium, most cases had tumor diathesis, showed irregular and serrated edge in the clusters and had few normal endometrial cells in endometrial cytology. In endometrial cytology from serous adenocarcinoma of the ovary/fallopian tube, most cases lacked tumor diathesis and clusters showed a smooth edge and had abundant normal endometrial cells. Number of cells in a cluster from the endometrial cancer was 125.8± 9.4 and number of cells from the ovary/fallopian tube cancer was 54.6±4.9.
Conclusion: By paying attention to the background, the features of clusters and mixtures of normal endometrial cells in endometrial aspiration cytology, it may be possible to discriminate between endometrial serous adenocarcinoma and serous adenocarcinoma from the ovary/fal lopian tube.