Clinical outcomes of advanced-stage glassy cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix: a need for reappraisal

Abstract

We performed a retrospective analysis of the clinical features and patient outcomes for advanced-stage glassy cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix. The study was restricted to cases in which the glassy cell features constituted at least 95% of the biopsied specimen. During the study period, 675 patients were diagnosed with primary cervical carcinoma. Five (0.7%) of the 675 patients had cervical glassy cell carcinoma; of these, three were premenopausal, and two were postmenopausal. Abnormal vaginal bleeding was the most frequent presenting symptom. Glassy cell carcinoma presented as a fungating, exophytic, or infiltrative mass. The greatest tumor dimension ranged from 3 to 9 cm. All patients had parametrial extension. Four patients had stage IIB tumors, and one had a stage IIIB tumor. All patients received concurrent chemoradiation therapy. The patient with a stage IIIB tumor died of hypovolemic shock caused by upper gastrointestinal bleeding during radiation therapy. Three patients with stage IIB tumors survived for more than 8 years without tumor recurrence or metastasis. One of these three patients died of pelvic recurrence 10 years after the initial diagnosis. Cervical glassy cell carcinoma has traditionally been considered an aggressive, highly malignant tumor with poor prognosis, but our data suggest that patient survival is not significantly decreased compared with other histological types of cervical carcinoma. It will be necessary to analyze patient outcomes using a larger number of cervical glassy cell carcinoma cases to confirm our findings.