A unique uterine cervical “teratocarcinosarcoma”: a case report

BACKGROUND: Teratocarcinosarcoma (TCS) is a rare aggressive tumor of the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses and has both epithelial and two or more mesenchymal components. In other organs, 5 cases of ovarian tumors closely resembling TCS have been reported; however, there has been no published case of cervical TCS. Herein, we describe a unique case of cervical tumor that had carcinosarcomatous and teratomatous features, resembling a sinonasal TCS. CASE PRESENTATION: A 45-year-old woman presented to our hospital for evaluation of a cervical lesion. The gynecologist found a large polypoid mass, whose biopsy showed glandular components of probable germ cell origin based on the immunohistochemical features. The patient underwent total hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy. The cervical polypoid mass was found to consist of both epithelial and mesenchymal tissues, including immature glandular structure resembling fetal enteric tubules, neuroepithelial cells, hyaline cartilage, and rhabdomyosarcoma cells. This tumor was diagnosed as TCS of the uterine cervix. Following the surgery, the patient received radiotherapy and has been free of disease for 13 months. CONCLUSION: This is the first case report of cervical TCS. The tumor is thought to be histogenetically less associated with HPV infection, and its teratomatous components with an absence of cytogenetic abnormalities (including isochromosome 12p (i(12p)) suggest a analogous histogenesis compared to pure mature or immature teratoma.