Argyrophilia and Endometrial Carcinoma

Exfoliative Cytology of Neuroendocrine Small Cell Carcinoma of the Endometrium

“…This hypothesis is consistent with studies that have documented cells of enterochromaffin or neuroendocrine type within normal endometrial glands and more commonly within well-differentiated endometrial adenocarcinomas. 5,27,28,[31][32][33] An alternative theory is neuroendocrine metaplasia of the müllerian epithelium. 22 …”

“…Neuroendocrine differentiation of small and intermediate cell type small cell carcinoma of the endometrium has been discussed in previous papers, [3][4][5]18 and tumors with hormonal immunoreactivity for corticotropin, calcitonin, serotonin, somatostatin and chromogranin have been reported. 20,24,[33][34][35] The antigen NSE is found in neurons, normal cells in the neuroendocrine system and tumors with neuronal or neuroendocrine differentiation.…”

“…Argyrophil cells tend to be more common in well-differentiated carcinomas, 4,5 and their presence has no influence on tumor behavior. 7,27 The generally good prognosis of well-differentiated adenocarcinoma with enterochromaffin-type cells contrasts sharply with that of small cell carcinoma of the endometrium, warranting their separate classification.…”

“…The differential diagnosis of a small cell carcinoma of the endometrium includes a variety of other primary and secondary tumors of the uterine corpus with a focal or diffuse malignant small cell component. 4,5,19,27,[31][32][33] Tumor spread from a small cell carcinoma of the cervix is much more common than in their endometrial counterparts. 6 In our cases, examination of the hysterectomy specimens revealed no involvement of the cervix.…”

Incidence of Argyrophil Cells in Normal and Dysplastic Conditions of Human Uterine Cervix

“…Argyrophilic cells occur rarely in the normal cervix but are found in a variety of invasive tumours arising in the uterine cervix such as preinvasive glandular lesions of the cervix [8]. Argyrophilic cells in the normal uterine cervix were first documented by Fox, Kazzaz and Langley [9] and subsequently by others [10][11][12]. The transformation zone of the uterine cervix is of utmost importance because cervical cancer and its precursors typically begin within it [2,13].…”