Metastases to the uterine corpus from extragenital cancers. A clinicopathologic study of 63 cases

Abstract

This report is an analysis of 63 cases of metastatic cancers to the uterine corpus from extragenital neoplasms. The patients' ages ranged from 34-88 years (mean, 59.7 years). Twenty lesions were discovered in surgical specimens and 43 were detected at autopsy. The primary tumors arose in the breast (42.9%), colon (17.5%), stomach (11.1%), pancreas (11.1%), gallbladder (4.8%), lung (4.8%), cutaneous melanoma (3.2%), urinary bladder (3.2%), and thyroid (1.6%). In five (25%) of the surgical cases, uterine metastases were the first indication of the presence of an extragenital primary cancer. Metastases to leiomyomas were found in 13 instances. The myometrium was more often involved than the endometrium, but endometrial curettings contained the metastatic tumor in numerous cases. Metastases to the ovaries were detected in almost two thirds of cases. Although an infrequent event, abnormal uterine bleeding may result from secondary spread to the uterine corpus from an extragenital primary neoplasm.