Uterine cervical carcinosarcoma with heterologous mesenchymal component: a case report and review of the literature.

INTRODUCTION: Carcinosarcomas of the uterine cervix are very rare. Most of them have a homologous mesenchymal component, and cervical carcinosarcomas with a heterologous mesenchymal component are limited to nine cases. CASE REPORT: A 61-year-old Japanese woman was admitted to the hospital for treatment of a ureteral stone. Imaging studies detected an indistinct cervical mass. A histopathological diagnosis of the cervical biopsy was a carcinosarcoma. A total abdominal hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy and pelvic lymphadenectomy was carried out upon a diagnosis of stage Ib1 cervical carcinosarcoma. Microscopically, the cervical mass revealed a carcinosarcoma consisting of endometrioid adenocarcinoma and chondrosarcoma. Immunohistochemically, p53 was positive in the epithelial and mesenchymal components. Postoperatively, the patient underwent radiation and chemotherapy. She is alive with no evidence of recurrence 5 years and 10 months after the operation.
CONCLUSION: We suppose that the similar proportion of p53 overexpression in both the epithelial and mesenchymal components may be one of the findings explaining the histogenesis of this tumor by combination theory.