Primary mucinous adenocarcinoma of the vagina: Possibility of differentiating from metastatic adenocarcinomas

Abstract

Primary vaginal adenocarcinomas are rare neoplasms. Herein is reported a case of primary vaginal mucinous adenocarcinoma with an interesting mucin profile, presumably arising from a lesion of adenosis in a patient without in utero exposure to diethylstilbesterol (DES). The patient, a 44-year-old woman, had undergone vaginal total hysterectomy 10 years previously for myoma uteri corporis. The histological features of the vaginal intramural tumor found in this patient resembled those of mucinous adenocarcinoma of the endocervical type. Therefore, it was necessary to determine whether or not the tumor was metastatic from an occult cervical adenocarcinoma. However, the adenocarcinoma cells of the present case did not contain sulfomucin at all, being different from most mucinous adenocarcinoma cells of the endocervical type. Moreover, there were foci of adenosis adjacent to the adenocarcinoma foci, which also did not contain sulfomucin. These findings indicate that the mucinous adenocarcinoma arose from vaginal adenosis. Further studies are necessary to investigate whether lack of sulfomucin expression is a characteristic feature of vaginal adenosis.