title: Pure alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma of the corpus uteri: description of a case with increased serum level of CA-125.
abstract: We report a morphological and immunohistochemical study of a case of pure alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma of the uterus in an 80-year-old woman. The diagnostic clues were the characteristic "alveolar" pattern of growth, the evidence of cross-striations in strap or elongated cells with abundant eosinophilic cytoplasms, the presence of multinucleated cells with peripherally placed "wreathlike" nuclei, and the expression of muscular antigens by the tumor cells. A thorough sampling of the tumor excluded areas of other types of heterologous or homologous sarcomas or the presence of coexisting adenoma or carcinoma. The other immunohistochemical data showed a high proliferative rate as well as a high rate of p53 overexpression in the small poorly differentiated rhabdomyoblasts. Interestingly, the large differentiated rhabdomyoblasts expressed CA-125, the antigenic determinant of nonmucinous epithelial ovarian tumors. The clinical course was very aggressive: the patient died 5 months after surgery because of disease progression. The pertinent literature is discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences and Human Oncology, University of Turin, Torino, Italy.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chiarle
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Godio
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fusi
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Soldati
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Palestro
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D018394:CA-125 Antigen / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D018232:Rhabdomyosarcoma, Alveolar / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology*; D014594:Uterine Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D018394:CA-125 Antigen