Varieties of Serous Surface Papillary Carcinoma of the Peritoneum in Northern Germany

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Abstract
From a total of 62,858 autopsy files kept over a 30-year period (1961-1990), all cases that met the following criteria were extracted: (a) main tumor masses in the peritoneum with no evidence of origin from any adjacent organ; (b) histologic features suggestive of serous ovarian carcinoma; (c) ovaries definitely recognizable as having either no tumorous involvement or tumor confined to the surface and cortex of the ovaries; and (d) in patients with a history of abdominal operations, availability of slides and reports. From 670 stages III and IV serous carcinomas of the ovary, we retrieved 57 cases (8%) of serous surface papillary carcinoma (SSPC) of the peritoneum. All SSPCs occurred in women with an age range from 47 to 84 years (median 66 years). Eight cases (14%) were grade I, 36 (63%) were grade II, and 13 (23%) were grade III. Histologically, four cases (7%) resembled malignant epithelial mesothelioma in major parts of the tumor, and in one case endometrioid differentiation of the tumor was conspicuous. Additional histochemical and immunohistochemical examinations were performed in 30 cases of SSPC. In 14 cases (47%) neutral mucosubstances were identified by periodic acid-Schiff positivity after diastase predigestion, and in 16 cases (53%) acid mucosubstances were identified by alcian blue staining. In one of these cases the alcian blue-positive substances were abolished under predigestion by testicular hyaluronidase. Tumor cells stained positive for cytokeratin (100% of the cases), B72.3 (90%), Ber-EP4 (83%), CD 15 (57%), placental alkaline phosphatase (53%), CA 125 (43%), vimentin (23%), and carcinoembryonic antigen (10%). The survival rates at 1 year for SSPC (0%) were significantly shorter (p = 0.03) in comparison with stages III and IV ovarian carcinomas (34%). Problems of definition and differential diagnosis of SSPC are discussed.

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