Endometrial carcinoma coexisting with pregnancy, presumed to derive from adenomyosis: a case report

A Case of Undifferentiated Carcinoma in a 2-Month Postpartum Reproductive Tract with a Rapid and Fulminant Course

Advanced carcinoma of the lower female reproductive tract is rare during pregnancy and the postpartum period. We here present a case of a 32-year-old Japanese woman, whose entire lower reproductive tract had been invaded by carcinomas as of 2 months after childbirth. She had been infertile, and pregnancy had been established by repeated embryo transfer. The gynecological cancer screening, which included Pap smear tests, was negative during the periods she underwent infertility treatment or during the first trimester. At 26 gestational weeks, the patient noticed uterine contractions concomitant with genital bleeding. Labor progressed slowly and steadily; thus, the pregnancy was ended by cesarean section at 29 weeks. At 2 months after childbirth, the patient experienced increased left abdominal pain and underwent a pelvic examination, revealing multiple pelvic masses and diffuse vaginal tumors causing stenosis. Vaginal tumors were biopsied, and histochemical analysis showed undifferentiated carcinoma with possible adenocarcinoma. Imaging modalities including CT, MRI, and PET-CT suggest that the carcinoma had invaded the entire reproductive tract, especially the uterine body, metastasized into the lungs and the ischial bones, and disseminated onto the peritoneum. She received multiple rounds of chemotherapy but died 6 months after childbirth. Taking into consideration the clinical feature and immunohistochemical profiles of the cancer cells, the endometrium is the most likely origin.

Endometrial cancer arising from adenomyosis: Case report and literature review of MRI findings

Endometrial cancer arising from adenomyosis (EC-AIA) is extremely rare, and the typical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings of EC-AIA have not been established. We report a case of EC-AIA that was detected preoperatively on MRI and conduct a literature review of the MRI findings of EC-AIA.

Endometrial carcinoma in a gravid uterus: a case report and literature review

Background

Endometrial carcinoma (EC) is rarely diagnosed during pregnancy. Therefore, the histopathological findings, clinical course, and gross appearance of the resected uterus during pregnancy are not well known. We present a case of EC diagnosed during pregnancy. In addition, we reviewed the literature dating from January 1995 to March 2019 for cases of EC diagnosed during pregnancy and within 15 months after pregnancy, and we discussed this topic to improve the understanding of this rare condition.

Case presentation

A 35-year-old woman underwent an urgent cesarean delivery in gestational week 35 due to antepartum bleeding caused by placenta previa. Hysterectomy was performed with the diagnosis of placenta accreta spectrum (PAS). Remarkably, the postoperative gross and histopathological examinations revealed an endometrioid adenocarcinoma (grade 1). The histopathological findings revealed a pattern similar to that of EC not related with pregnancy. Immunohistochemistry revealed an overexpression of the estrogen and progesterone receptors; however, the p53 expression was negative. We performed laparoscopic bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy and pelvic lymphadenectomy 102 days after the cesarean hysterectomy, and confirmed surgical stage IA without metastases. Our patient has had no recurrence in 4 years after the cesarean delivery.

An electronic search of the literature revealed 25 cases of EC (including our case) diagnosed during or after pregnancy. Sixteen of the 25 patients were diagnosed after abortions in the first trimester, 9 were diagnosed within 14 months of childbirth, and our case was the first with diagnosis from a surgical specimen of peripartum hysterectomy due to the PAS. In 23 of the 25 cases endometrioid adenocarcinoma grade 1 to 2 was found, and it seemed to have a good prognosis.

Conclusion

The present findings suggest that careful examination of a resected uterus is essential, even when surgery is performed for an obstetric indication. Our case is an extremely rare case of EC during pregnancy; the histopathological pattern was similar to that of typical EC, and no recurrence was noted. The high levels of estrogen and progesterone during pregnancy did not seem to promote tumor progression in our case.

Endometrial cancer arising in adenomyosis versus endometrial cancer coexisting with adenomyosis: are these two different entities?

PURPOSE

While adenomyosis is one of the most common benign histologic findings in hysterectomy specimens of endometrial cancer, demographics of endometrial cancer arising in adenomyosis (EC-AIA) has not been well elucidated. The aim of this study is to evaluate histopathological findings and disease-free survival (DFS) of EC-AIA in comparison to endometrial cancer coexisting with adenomyosis (EC-A).

METHODS

EC-AIA cases were identified via a systematic literature search (n = 46). EC-A cases were identified from a historical cohort that underwent hysterectomy-based surgical staging in two institutions (n = 350). Statistical comparisons of the two groups were based on univariate and multivariate analyses.

RESULTS

The EC-AIA group was significantly older than the EC-A group (58.9 versus 53.8, p = 0.002). As to tumor characteristics, 63.6% of EC-AIA cases reported tumor within the myometrium without endometrial extension. The EC-AIA group was significantly associated with more non-endometrioid histology (23.9 versus 14.8%; p = 0.002) and deep myometrial tumor invasion (51.6 versus 19.4%; p < 0.001) than EC-A. Tumor grade, stage, and nodal metastasis risk were similar (all, p > 0.05). In a univariate analysis, the EC-AIA group had a significantly decreased DFS compared to EC-A (5-year rates, 72.2 versus 85.5%, p = 0.001). After controlling for age, histology, tumor grade, and stage, EC-AIA remained an independent prognostic factor associated with decreased DFS compared to EC-A (adjusted-hazard ratio 2.87, 95% confidence interval 1.44-5.70, p = 0.031).

CONCLUSION

Our study demonstrated that EC-AIA has distinct tumor characteristics and a poorer survival outcome compared to EC-A. This suggests a benefit of recognition of this unique entity as an aggressive variant of endometrial cancer.

Tumor Characteristics and Survival Outcome of Endometrial Cancer Arising in Adenomyosis: An Exploratory Analysis

BACKGROUND

Endometrial cancer arising in adenomyosis (EC-AIA) is a rare entity of endometrial cancer, and its clinical significance has not been well studied. This study aimed to examine the tumor characteristics and survival outcomes of EC-AIA.

METHODS

An exploratory analysis was performed to compare EC-AIA and historical control cases. For this study, EC-AIA cases were identified via a systematic literature search using PubMed/MEDLINE with entry keywords "endometrial cancer OR uterine cancer" AND "adenomyosis" (n = 46). The control group comprised consecutive non-EC-AIA cases from four institutions that had hysterectomy-based surgical staging (n = 1294). Patient demographics, pathology results, and survival outcomes were evaluated between the two groups.

RESULTS

The EC-AIA group was significantly older than the control group (58.9 vs. 55.3 years; P = 0.032). In terms of tumor characteristics, 56.5% of the EC-AIA cases showed tumor within the myometrium without endometrial extension, and the EC-AIA group was significantly more likely to have tumors with more than 50% myometrial invasion (51.6 vs. 26.6%; P = 0.002) and serous/clear cell histology (22.2 vs. 8.2%, P = 0.002) while less likely to express estrogen receptor (14.3 vs. 84.6%; P < 0.001). Grade and stage distributions were similar (P > 0.05). In the univariate analysis, the EC-AIA group had a significantly poorer disease-free survival than the control group (5-year rate: 71.4 vs. 80.6%; P = 0.014). In the multivariate analysis, with control for age, ethnicity, histology, grade, and stage, EA-CIC remained an independent prognostic factor for decreased disease-free survival (adjusted hazard ratio, 3.07; 95% confidence interval 1.55-6.08; P = 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

The study suggested that endometrial cancer arising in adenomyosis may be an aggressive variant of endometrial cancer.

Significance of adenomyosis on tumor progression and survival outcome of endometrial cancer

BACKGROUND

To examine the effects of adenomyosis on tumor progression and survival outcome of endometrial cancer patients.

METHODS

This is a retrospective study examining stage I-IV endometrial cancer patients who underwent hysterectomy-based surgical staging (n = 571), and endometrial hyperplasia patients who underwent hysterectomy (n = 213). Clinical demographics, histopathological factors, and survival outcomes were analyzed based on the presence or absence of adenomyosis.

RESULTS

Among the endometrial cancer cohort, adenomyosis was observed in 47.5 % of cases and was significantly associated with lower grade (grade 1-2 tumors, 81.2 vs. 73.3 %; p = 0.028), earlier stage (stage I disease, 74.8 vs. 64.3 %; p = 0.023), and lower likelihood of deep myometrial invasion (19.2 vs. 28.2 %; p = 0.039) and cervical invasion (13.7 vs. 21.2 %; p = 0.024) than those without adenomyosis. In survival analysis, endometrial cancer coexisting with adenomyosis was associated with a significantly better disease-free survival (5-year rate, 89.2 vs. 78.2 %; p < 0.001) and overall survival (91.8 vs. 83.9 %; p = 0.004) after hysterectomy. In multivariate analysis, controlling for other significant variables in univariate analysis, presence of adenomyosis remained an independent prognostic factor associated with decreased risk of disease recurrence after surgery (hazard ratio [HR] 0.53; 95 % confidence interval [CI] 0.30-0.92; p = 0.023). Endometrial hyperplasia had a significantly increased incidence of adenomyosis when compared with type I endometrial cancer (grade 1-2 endometrioid adenocarcinoma, n = 411) on multivariate analysis (62.9 vs. 48.9 %; HR 1.88; 95 % CI 1.32-2.69; p < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Adenomyosis appears to be associated with less aggressive tumor behavior of endometrial cancer, suggesting that it may have inhibitory effects on the progression of this disease.

Massive multicystic dilatation of the uterine wall with myometrial venous thrombosis during pregnancy

We present a pregnancy complicated by multicystic dilatation of the uterine wall during the second trimester, leading to massive uterine distension, anemia and preterm Cesarean section. The cystic changes detected by ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging involved the whole uterine wall surrounding the entire amniotic cavity. Histopathological examination revealed the benign nature of the cystic changes, which represented dilated and thrombosed venous lacunae. Disturbed venous drainage, combined with local thrombosis, was likely to have led to the collection of a large volume of blood in the uterine wall and the subsequent multicystic change of the myometrium.

[Endometrioid adenocarcinoma arising from adenomyosis. A case report and literature review]

In spite of many references to carcinoma arising from endometriosis, there are few documented cases in the literature of endometrioid adenocarcinoma developed in association with adenomyosis. We report a case of endometrioid adenocarcinoma arising from adenomyosis. Carcinogenic and prognostic factors as well as the therapeutic consequences of this unusual situation are discussed. The use of hormonal replacement therapy by patients with a prior history of adenomyosis is also examined.

Endometrial carcinoma in septate uterus detected 6 months after full-term delivery: case report and review of the literature

BACKGROUND

Endometrial carcinoma associated with pregnancy is rare. We present the case of a 39-year-old woman with endometrial carcinoma in the septate uterus detected 6 months after normal delivery.

CASE

The patient complained of vaginal bleeding from 32 weeks' gestation, and had a spontaneous vaginal delivery at 37 weeks. The bleeding continued after the delivery, but repeated endometrial cytology and biopsy did not reveal evidence of malignancy. An exploratory laparotomy was performed 6 months postpartum with suspicion of uterine myoma. A histological diagnosis of endometrial carcinoma was made based on examination of frozen sections from the hysterectomy specimen, and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy and pelvic/para-aortic lymphadenectomy were also performed. Histological examination revealed G3 endometrioid adenocarcinoma with squamous differentiation, which arose in the septum of the uterus and deeply invaded the myometrium. The patient received postoperative chemotherapy and is healthy with no evidence of disease 3 years after the treatment.

CONCLUSIONS

Although pregnancy-associated endometrial carcinoma is rare, careful examinations are needed when unexplained vaginal bleeding continued.