Abstract
We investigated the possibility of distinguishing between primary endometrial and endocervical adenocarcinomas by using a panel of immunohistochemical stains, which included vimentin (VIM), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), epithelial membrane antigen (EMA), and cytokeratins 7 and 20 (CK7 and CK20). Twenty-nine endocervical adenocarcinomas (CCAs) and 30 endometrial adenocarcinomas (EMCAs) including cases with overlapping histologic features (CCAs with endometrioid differentiation [15/29] and EMCAs with mucinous differentiation [16/30]) were evaluated. Most EMCAs (29/30, 97%) were VIM positive, whereas only 2/29 (7%) CCAs were VIM positive. The great majority of EMCAs (28/30) and all 29 CCAs were CK7 positive, whereas all 30 EMCAs and 27/29 CCAs were negative for CK20. CEA positivity was more common in CCAs (18/29, 62%) than in EMCAs (8/30, 27%). EMA positivity was present in all 30 EMCAs and in 26 of 29 (90%) CCAs. We conclude that VIM and CEA are useful immunohistochemical markers in distinguishing EMCAs and CCAs, but CK7, CK20, and EMA are not useful in this distinction.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 4-10 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | International Journal of Gynecological Pathology |
Volume | 21 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2002 |
Keywords
- Adenocarcinoma
- Cytokeratin
- Endocervix
- Endometrium
- Immunohistochemistry
- Vimentin
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Pathology and Forensic Medicine
- Obstetrics and Gynecology