title: Lichen planus of uterine cervix - the first report of a novel site of occurrence: a case report.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Lichen planus is an immune mediated inflammatory lesion involving skin and mucosal sites including oral mucosa, vulva and rarely vagina. Lichen planus occurring at mucosal sites has been shown to be associated with squamous cell carcinoma in a proportion of cases. To the best of our knowledge, no case of lichen planus of uterine cervix has been reported in the available literature.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 45-year-old female underwent vaginal hysterectomy for uterine prolapse. The resected specimen showed a bluish-colored area in the non-dependent part of the ectocervix. Microscopic sections from this area showed dense lymphocytic infiltrate at the junction of mucosa and submucosa causing disruption of the basal cell layer. On immunohistochemical examination there was predominance of CD8+ T lymphocytes at the junction with scattered CD4+ T lymphocytes, characteristic of lichen planus. Based on the history and negative serum antibody titers, other differential diagnoses including lupus erythematosus and drug reaction were excluded. The patient did not have any cutaneous or oral lesions of lichen planus.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Lichen planus of uterine cervix is a hitherto unreported entity, and is worth studying considering the premalignant potential of lichen planus at other mucosal sites.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, 110076, India.
authors.forename: Ruchika
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.forename: Bhavna
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bansal
authors.forename: Sompal
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: Indra
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Yadav
authors.forename: Kusum
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.forename: Madhur
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kudesia