Alveolar soft-part sarcoma of the female genital tract: a report of nine cases and review of the literature.

Nine alveolar soft-part sarcomas of the female genital tract (four previously reported) occurred in patients 14-38 (mean 29) years of age. The most common clinical presentation was abnormal uterine bleeding. Two tumors were located in the vagina, three in the cervix or lower uterine segment, three in the uterine corpus, and one in the broad ligament. The tumors were solid and well circumscribed, ranging in maximum dimension from 1 to 9.8 (average 3.6) cm and had the characteristic histologic features of alveolar soft-part sarcoma. Granules that were diastase resistant and positive by periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) were present in all the tumors, and PAS-positive, diastase-resistant crystals were present in eight of them. Follow-up information ranging from 9 months to 17 years (average 62 months) was available for all the patients. One patient died of metastatic disease 25 months after diagnosis; eight other patients had uneventful follow-up periods ranging from 9 months to 17 years (average 67 months). The differential diagnosis of these tumors is discussed and the literature reviewed.