Uterine lesions with sex cord-like architectures: a systematic review

BACKGROUND: Sex cord-like elements are rarely observed in uterine lesions, but these morphological patterns could appear in a variety of uterine tumors and non-tumorous lesions. In this review, we collected the literatures regarding the uterine tumorous and non-tumorous lesions containing sex cord-like elements and summarized these lesions in terms of clinicopathological, immunohistochemical, and molecular features in order to further understand these lesions and provide some new ideas for differential diagnosis. MAIN BODY: This section provides a comprehensive overview of the clinicopathological, immunohistochemical, and molecular features of uterine lesions with sex cord-like architectures including uterine tumors resembling ovarian sex cord tumors, endometrial stromal tumors, adenomyosis, endometrial polyps, leiomyoma, epithelioid leiomyosarcoma, adenosarcoma, sertoliform endometrioid carcinoma, corded and hyalinized endometrioid carcinoma, mesonephric adenocarcinoma, and mesonephric-like adenocarcinoma. The differential diagnosis based on morphology, immunohistochemistry, and molecular alterations has also been discussed. CONCLUSION: The sex cord-like areas in these lesions show heterogeneous but similar morphological features. Additionally, immunohistochemical staining plays a limited role in differential diagnosis. Furthermore, it is of significance for pathologists to better understand these lesions in order to avoid confusion and mistakes during pathological diagnosis, especially in a biopsy/curettage specimen.