The cytomorphology of papillary serous carcinoma of the endometrium in cervical smears

BACKGROUND: An investigation into the determination of cytomorphologic criteria that may distinguish papillary serous carcinoma of the endometrium (PSC) from typical endometrioid carcinoma (TEC) in cervical smears was undertaken. Preoperative identification of this poor prognostic variant of endometrial carcinoma may influence the surgical management of these cases and the choice of adjuvant therapy. METHODS: The cervical smears of 12 cases of histologically confirmed PSC; 12 cases of TEC, including 2 villoglandular/papillary variants, and 6 cases of mixed PSC and papillary endometrioid carcinoma were reviewed. In all cases an initial diagnosis of malignancy had been made on the cervical smears. Twenty-seven criteria were evaluated and the relation between the cytologic characteristics and the type of adenocarcinoma, the degree of association, and the intergroup homogeneity were tested. RESULTS: Features strongly associated with PSC were hypercellular smears with a background tumor diathesis, papillae, bare nuclei, and cells with large pleomorphic nuclei and bulky dense cytoplasm. In contrast, TEC showed a relatively monomorphic population of cells with moderately enlarged oval nuclei and delicate cytoplasm. In the mixed tumors, the features were similar to those of PSC, suggesting preferential exfoliation of the PSC component of the tumor. CONCLUSIONS: Assessment of the cytomorphology of PSC and TEC of the endometrium in Papanicolaou stained cervical smears is possible using statistically significant diagnostic criteria.