Homologous carcinosarcoma of the uterine corpus--report of a case and review of the literature in Japan

A 59-year-old woman with leukorrhea. Aspiration smears were obtained from the uterine cavity. The dominant cellular components were fibrogenic sarcomatous cells, which had ill-defined lacy cytoplasm and a single nucleus with finely granular chromatin. There were occasional naked giant cells, and intracytoplasmic eosinophilic granules. Another infrequent cellular component was adenocarcinoma cells. Histopathologically, adenocarcinoma and spindle cell sarcoma were equivalently identified. Twenty-two cases of homologous carcinosarcoma of the uterine corpus were reviewed cytologically in Japan. Cytodiagnosis before treatment was positive for malignancy of carcinosarcoma in 28.6%. Characteristic cytological findings of this case were the presence of flat sheets of atypical cells with broad cytoplasm. These findings suggest epithelial features. However, the finely granular chromatin pattern and smooth nuclear membrane indicate sarcomatous cells.