Metastatic lobular carcinoma of the breast in a cervical-vaginal smear

Abstract

metastatic carcinomas of genital or extragenital origins are unusual in cervicovaginal smears and may mimic primary neoplasms. The most common primary sites are the ovary, large bowel, stomach, breast, and kidney. The differential diagnosis between primary and metastatic carcinoma in the cervicovaginal smear may he a challenge. Cytologic examination of a cervicovaginal .smear from a 48-year-old woman revealed a metastatic carcinoma. She had a combined type breast cancer two years earlier. Cytologic findings were correlated with the histology of the primary tumor The main findings were single or "Indian files" distribution of malignant cells with round, hyperchromatic nuclei. The cytologic features along with the clinical history, should alert cytopathologists to the possibility of metastatic breast cancer. (otherwise, metastatic malignant cells may mimic a primary carcinoma or carcinoma in situ.