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Mucosal carcinoma of the fallopian tube coexists with ovarian cancer of serous subtype only: a study of Japanese cases

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Abstract

Previous studies in Western countries have revealed that mucosal carcinoma of the fallopian tube frequently coexists with pelvic (ovarian, tubal, and peritoneal) serous carcinomas, and early tubal carcinoma is now regarded as a possible origin of these tumors. However, the relationship between early tubal carcinoma and non-serous ovarian cancer, such as clear cell adenocarcinoma, has not been studied in detail. In this study, we sought to examine the coexistence of mucosal carcinoma of the fallopian tube in Japanese ovarian cancer cases. We submitted the fallopian tubes in toto for histological examination in 52 ovarian carcinoma cases and three peritoneal serous carcinoma cases. The ovarian tumors included 12 serous adenocarcinomas, 23 clear cell adenocarcinomas, nine endometrioid adenocarcinomas, three mucinous adenocarcinomas, and four mixed epithelial carcinomas. Mucosal carcinoma of the fallopian tube did not coexist with non-serous adenocarcinoma (n = 40). In contrast, mucosal carcinoma of the fallopian tube was observed in six cases of ovarian serous adenocarcinoma and one case of peritoneal serous adenocarcinoma. In these cases, the p53 immunophenotypes were similar in tubal lesions and invasive ovarian or peritoneal carcinomas. Tumors were negative for p53 in four of seven cases, and one of the p53-negative serous adenocarcinomas showed low-grade morphology. We believe that some ovarian and peritoneal serous adenocarcinomas develop from early tubal carcinomas. However, it should be noted that early tubal carcinomas are not always p53-positive immunohistochemically. Finally, it is unlikely that early tubal lesions are involved in the carcinogenesis of clear cell adenocarcinoma and other non-serous adenocarcinomas.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the faculty and resident staff in the Department of Pathology at the University of Tokyo Hospital and Mitsui Memorial Hospital, especially Hideki Miyazaki and Masako Ikemura, for their assistance with the extensive sectioning of the fallopian tubes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo Bunkyoku, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan

    Daichi Maeda, Satoshi Ota, Yutaka Takazawa & Masashi Fukayama

  2. Department of Pathology, Toranomon Hospital, 2-2-2 Toranomon Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan

    Kenichi Ohashi

  3. Department of Pathology, Mitsui Memorial Hospital, 1 Kandaizumicho Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan

    Masaya Mori

  4. Department of Pathology, Teikyo University Hospital, 2-11-1 Kaga Itabashi-ku, Tokyo, Japan

    Tetsuo Imamura

  5. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan

    Shunsuke Nakagawa, Tetsu Yano & Yuji Taketani

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  1. Daichi Maeda
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  2. Satoshi Ota
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  3. Yutaka Takazawa
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  4. Kenichi Ohashi
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  5. Masaya Mori
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  6. Tetsuo Imamura
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  7. Shunsuke Nakagawa
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  8. Tetsu Yano
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  9. Yuji Taketani
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  10. Masashi Fukayama
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Masashi Fukayama.

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Maeda, D., Ota, S., Takazawa, Y. et al. Mucosal carcinoma of the fallopian tube coexists with ovarian cancer of serous subtype only: a study of Japanese cases. Virchows Arch 457, 597–608 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00428-010-0979-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00428-010-0979-4

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