Glassy cell carcinoma of colon

Colon tumor
Carcinoma
Glassy cell carcinoma

Author: Raul Gonzalez M.D. (see Authors page)

Revised: 28 December 2016, last major update March 2015

Copyright: (c) 2002-2016, PathologyOutlines.com, Inc.

PubMed Search: Glassy cell carcinoma [title]

Table of Contents

Cite this page: Glassy cell carcinoma of colon. PathologyOutlines.com website. http://www.pathologyoutlines.com/topic/colontumorglassycell.html. Accessed July 14th, 2017.

Definition / general

Extremely rare subtype of colonic adenosquamous carcinoma (only one reported case at Am J Surg Pathol 1996;20:187)
More common in cervix; also reported in endometrium and vagina

Microscopic (histologic) description

Sheets of malignant cells with ground glass, finely granular cytoplasm
Enlarged nuclei with prominent nucleoli
Multinucleated cells common
Abundant mitotic figures

Microscopic (histologic) images

Images hosted on other servers:

From cervix

Positive stains

Cytokeratin, EMA, hCG

Electron microscopy description

Prominent rough endoplasmic reticulum

Differential diagnosis

Poorly differentiated colorectal carcinoma: glassy cytoplasm absent
Focal hCG positivity / production by other carcinomas: more common; other morphologic features absent