Alveolar soft part sarcoma of the uterine cervix

Abstract

Alveolar soft part sarcoma is a histologically distinctive neoplasm of uncertain histogenesis. Since its initial description in 1952, more than 200 cases have been reported. The extremities are most often the sites of involvement; the tongue, bones, and the orbit have been less commonly involved. The present paper describes a case of alveolar soft part sarcoma which was present only within the uterine cervix of a 37-year-old woman. Histologically, the tumor cells were arranged in the characteristic alveolar pattern; diagnostic PAS-positive diastase-resistant needle-shaped crystals were observed within the cytoplasm of the tumor cells. After the initial biopsy, the patient underwent a radical hysterectomy and pelvic lymph node dissection. Although no residual tumor was found within the cervix, a microscopic focus of tumor was detected in an obturator lymph node. The patient is at present clinically free of disease.