title: Alveolar soft part sarcoma of the uterine cervix.
abstract: Alveolar soft part sarcoma is a histologically distinctive neoplasm of uncertain histogenesis. Since its initial description in 1952, more than 200 cases have been reported. The extremities are most often the sites of involvement; the tongue, bones, and the orbit have been less commonly involved. The present paper describes a case of alveolar soft part sarcoma which was present only within the uterine cervix of a 37-year-old woman. Histologically, the tumor cells were arranged in the characteristic alveolar pattern; diagnostic PAS-positive diastase-resistant needle-shaped crystals were observed within the cytoplasm of the tumor cells. After the initial biopsy, the patient underwent a radical hysterectomy and pelvic lymph node dissection. Although no residual tumor was found within the cervix, a microscopic focus of tumor was detected in an obturator lymph node. The patient is at present clinically free of disease.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007044:Hysterectomy; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000473:pathology; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D012509:Sarcoma / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery / Q000648:ultrastructure; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery / Q000648:ultrastructure