Papillary squamotransitional cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix: an advanced stage disease despite superficial location: report of two cases and review of the literature

Abstract

Papillary carcinoma of the uterine cervix with features reminiscent of transitional cell carcinoma of urothelial origin is a poorly recognized subtype of cervical carcinoma. This tumour has a propensity for late metastasis and local recurrence in spite of the fact that histologically it could be misinterpreted as cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 3 (CIN3) with a papillary configuration or as a squamous papilloma. In this report we describe two examples of papillary squamous/transitional carcinoma of the cervix with literature review. The results indicate that this tumour occurs mainly in postmenopausal women, is potentially aggressive and presents at a more advanced stage inspite of the histological appearance suggesting a superficial or early invasive lesion.