Cervix
Mesenchymal / mixed epithelial & mesenchymal tumors
Rhabdomyosarcoma
Author: Branko Perunovic, D.M.
Topic Completed: 1 May 2007
Minor changes: 22 February 2021
Copyright: 2007-2021, PathologyOutlines.com, Inc.
PubMed Search: Rhabdomyosarcoma cervix [title]
Table of Contents
Definition / general | Case reports | Treatment | Gross description | Gross images | Microscopic (histologic) description | Microscopic (histologic) images | Cytology description | Positive stains | Differential diagnosisCite this page: Perunovic B. Rhabdomyosarcoma. PathologyOutlines.com website. https://www.pathologyoutlines.com/topic/cervixrhabdomyosarcoma.html. Accessed February 27th, 2021.
Definition / general
- Rhabdomyosarcomas are divided into embryonal, botryoid (subtype of embryonal), alveolar or pleomorphic (anaplastic) subtypes
- Embryonal type is most common; occurs in children; more common in vagina than cervix
- Cases in older women often contain cartilage and have better prognosis
Case reports
Embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma:
Other types:
- 13 year old girl with anaplastic (pleomorphic) subtype (Arch Gynecol Obstet 2004;270:278)
- 17 year old girl with botryoid subtype and recurrence after excision and chemotherapy (Acta Cytol 1999;43:475)
- 19 year old with tumor in cervical polyp (Gynecol Oncol 2004;95:243)
- 46 year old woman with botryoid subtype (Int J Gynecol Pathol 2004;23:78)
- Patients with pediatric heterologous tumors (Gynecol Oncol 2005;99:742)
Other types:
- 39 year old woman with alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma (Gynecol Oncol 2003;91:623)
Treatment
- Minor surgery plus chemotherapy may be recommended for stage I disease (Eur J Pediatr 2004;163:452)
Gross description
- Botryoid cases have protrusion of grape-like masses (due to edema and myxoid stroma) from cervix into vagina
- Surface is glistening and translucent
Gross images
Images hosted on other servers:
Embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma
Microscopic (histologic) description
- Botryoid - polypoid mass of rhabdomyoblasts at different maturational stages covered by attenuated epithelium; resembles vaginal tumor; often cambium layer beneath cervical epithelium in botryoid cases; often loose myxoid stroma, surface ulceration; may have cartilage in older women; variable mitotic rate
- In young children, tumor cells may lack marked atypia and may blend in with normal, immature, cellular stroma
Microscopic (histologic) images
AFIP images
Cambian layer and edematous stroma
Edematous stroma
Cytology description
- Loose clusters of spindled cells in a necrotic background; cells have mild nuclear atypia, thin nuclear membrane, fine chromatin pattern, partly clear nucleolus
Positive stains
- In young children, focal staining for desmin, muscle specific actin, smooth muscle actin, MyoD1 and WT1, although not specific (Pediatr Dev Pathol 2005;8:427)
Differential diagnosis
- Adenosarcoma: fibrous stroma so no grape-like clusters, no edematous, leaf-like pattern resembling phyllodes tumor
- Edematous mesodermal polyp: adult women, small, soft fleshy protuberances up to 1.5 cm, stroma is uniform, no cambium layer, no rhabdomyoblasts, may have widely scattered atypical stromal cells
- Yolk sac tumor
