Mesothelioma of the female genital tract; review of the literature and report of five cases involving the uterus

Our plain-English summary of Mesothelioma of the female genital tract; review of the literature and report of five cases involving the uterus, by R.C. Horn, G.C. Lewis (American Journal of Clinical Pathology, 1951).

The study

• Authors: R.C. Horn, G.C. Lewis
• Journal: American Journal of Clinical Pathology
• Published: 1951;21(3):251-9
• Cited by: 18 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

In plain English

This article reported five cases and reviewed earlier published cases. The authors, from the surgical pathology laboratory and the obstetrics and gynecology department of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, described five tumors of the uterus that they called mesotheliomas. Four were chance findings in surgical specimens removed for a variety of reasons. Four looked like ordinary fibroids (myomas) to the naked eye and measured 2 to 3 cm across. Two of the women were followed for 16 and 18 years with no sign of the tumor coming back. Adding 24 published cases they accepted, the authors counted 29 tumors of the female genital tract: 13 in the uterus, 11 in the fallopian tubes and 5 in the ovaries. Of these 29, 25 had been regarded as benign. The authors noted that these tumors differ distinctly from mesothelial tumors of the pleura. They concluded that the tumors very probably arise from the cells lining the abdominal cavity (peritoneum) and that, with rare exceptions, they behave as benign tumors. The article does not discuss asbestos.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Case series of five patients combined with a review of the published literature
• Who was studied: Five women with uterine tumors seen at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. Three came from the Laboratory of Surgical Pathology within the two years before the report, and two came from the files of the Laboratory of Gynecologic Pathology. The authors also reviewed 24 published cases, for 29 tumors in all: 13 uterine, 11 tubal and 5 ovarian.
• Exposure: Not addressed: the article does not discuss asbestos or any occupational or environmental exposure.
• Main results:
  • Four of the authors' five tumors were incidental findings in surgical specimens removed for a variety of reasons.
  • Four of the authors' five tumors were thought on gross examination to be myomas, and they measured 2 to 3 cm in diameter.
  • Mucicarmine-staining material was found in three of the four specimens of the authors' cases that were stained this way.
  • Two of the authors' patients were followed for 16 and 18 years with no evidence of recurrence.
  • Of the 29 cases listed (the authors' 5 plus 24 from the literature), 25 had been regarded as benign.
  • After reclassifying some published cases, the authors identified a single exception to benign behavior: a tumor reported by Rice, Pearson and Treadwell. It recurred six months after surgery with spread over the peritoneal surface.
  • The authors noted that, although these genital tract tumors resemble peritoneal mesotheliomas somewhat, they differ distinctly from mesothelial tumors arising from the pleura.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that origin of these tumors from the mesothelial lining cells of the peritoneum appears highly probable. They also concluded that, with rare exceptions, mesotheliomas of the female genital tract may be expected to behave as benign tumors.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The authors said they had undoubtedly missed many published case reports, because such tumors were recorded under many different diagnostic names or because the published descriptions did not satisfy them.
  • For one case (Case 1), only a single routinely stained slide was available, so special stains could not be done.
  • The authors stated that there was too little information to draw conclusions about any relationship to pregnancies or race.

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Mesothelioma.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Mesothelioma.

Related studies

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• WT1 expression in the female genital tract — C. Bárcena, E. Oliva (2011)
• Benign mesotheliomas of testicular appendages: a morphologic and histochemical study of seven cases and review of theories of histogenesis — A. Stavrides, J.B. Hutcheson (1960)
• PAX8 and PAX2 immunostaining facilitates the diagnosis of primary epithelial neoplasms of the male genital tract — G.X. Tong, L. Memeo, et al. (2011)
• Mesothelioma of the male genital tract in a patient with Maffucci's syndrome — M.L. Slaysman, R.E. McDonald, et al. (1982)

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