Ovarian pulmonary-type small cell carcinoma is a rare and extremely aggressive neoplasm. We report the occurrence of an ovarian small cell carcinoma of pulmonary type in a 54-year-old woman. She underwent a total abdominal hysterectomy with a bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy and infracolic omentectomy. A diagnosis of stage IIIA pulmonary-type small cell carcinoma was rendered. The tumor appeared to be composed of a solid growth of small cells arranged in sheets and closely packed nests with insular arrangements separated by a fibrous stroma. The tumor cells had hyperchromatic nuclei with inconspicuous nucleoli and scanty cytoplasm. Rosette and rosette-like structures were scattered. Immunohistochemical staining showed positivity for synaptophysin, neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM), and focally for chromogranin. Cytokeratin and neuron-specific enolase (NSE) were also positive. Over 80% of the tumor cells showed strong reactivity for MIB-1. Electron microscopy showed neuroendocrine granules. She was effectively treated with paclitaxel plus carboplatin after the surgery.
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology (A.K.), Keiyu Hospital, Yokohama City
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology (N.S.), Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. Health Insurance Society Ota Memorial Hospital, Ota
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology (Y.Y., H.T., K.K.)
Department of Surgical Pathology (K.T.), Toho University School of Medicine, Ohashi Medical Center, Tokyo, Japan
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Address correspondence and reprint requests to Akiko Kurasaki, MD, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Keiyu Hospital, Minatomirai 3-7-3, Nishi-ku, Yokohama City 220-8521, Japan. E-mail: sputnik0621@yahoo.co.jp.