Carcinosarcoma of the uterus with melanocytic differentiation

Pathol Res Pract. 2007;203(10):753-8. doi: 10.1016/j.prp.2007.05.010. Epub 2007 Jul 25.

Abstract

Carcinosarcomas (CSs) are rare biphasic neoplasms of the female genital tract, with the presence of malignant epithelial and mesenchymal components. The occurrence of non-epithelial or non-mesenchymal differentiations in CSs is extremely rare. A case of a 54-year-old woman with a history of treatment for breast carcinoma is reported. The patient presented with a uterine tumor showing histological, immunohistochemical, and ultrastructural features of an extremely rare CS, with signs of melanocytic differentiation. The lesion was a 7.0 x 5.6 cm polypoid tumor mass arising from the endometrium and metastasizing in the abdominal cavity as a malignant melanoma - the most aggressive component of CS. Despite adjuvant chemotherapy, she died 8 months after the initial diagnosis due to the metastatic spread of CS. In line with current knowledge, we assess the melanocytic differentiation as one of a hypothetic differential line with the ability of multidirectional stem cell differentiation. We discuss a possible pathogenesis of this lesion and the role of tamoxifen in the tumor development as well. To the best of our knowledge, only one case of uterine CS with melanocytic differentiation has been reported in the English literature.

Publication types

  • Case Reports
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Abdominal Neoplasms / drug therapy
  • Abdominal Neoplasms / secondary*
  • Abdominal Neoplasms / surgery
  • Carcinosarcoma / drug therapy
  • Carcinosarcoma / pathology*
  • Carcinosarcoma / surgery
  • Cell Differentiation*
  • Chemotherapy, Adjuvant
  • Fatal Outcome
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Immunohistochemistry
  • Melanocytes / ultrastructure*
  • Melanoma / drug therapy
  • Melanoma / secondary*
  • Melanoma / surgery
  • Microscopy, Electron
  • Middle Aged
  • Mixed Tumor, Mullerian / drug therapy
  • Mixed Tumor, Mullerian / pathology*
  • Mixed Tumor, Mullerian / surgery
  • Uterine Neoplasms / drug therapy
  • Uterine Neoplasms / pathology*
  • Uterine Neoplasms / surgery