Villoglandular Carcinoma of the Uterine Cervix: Clinic-Cytopathological-Histological Features of a Rare Case With Brief Review of the Literature

Villoglandular adenocarcinoma (VGA) of the cervix is a rare tumour with very few reports of cytological diagnosis on a cervical smear. Since the usual prognosis of VGA is more favourable than that of a conventional cervical adenocarcinoma, a pre-operative diagnosis is essential for appropriate therapeutic decisions. We report the clinical, cytological, and histopathological features of a case of VGA in an elderly woman. A 60-year-old female presented with postmenopausal bleeding and was found to have a hypertrophied cervix. Conventional smears from the cervix demonstrated features of atypical glandular cells with a villoglandular configuration. Endocervical cell nuclei were enlarged with overlapping, hyperchromasia and mild to moderate anisonucleosis. The cytological impression of villoglandular carcinoma was confirmed on subsequent hysterectomy and histopathology. Hence, cytopathologists need to be aware of the entity of villoglandular carcinoma of the cervix, its relatively bland nuclear features, and the diagnostic clues to allow for an accurate diagnosis on cervical smear. An accurate pre-operative diagnosis can assist the gynaecologists in arriving at appropriate therapeutic and prognostic decisions.