Clear Cell Adenocarcinoma of the Female Genital Tract: A Report of Four Cases

The incidence of clear cell type adenocarcinoma in the different parts of the genital canal, the age distribution of the patients, the clinical and histological picture and the theories advanced in the literature as to its histogenesis are reviewed. Four cases diagnosed in 1953-1968 at the Central Hospital of North Carelia are described. One of the tumours occurred in the vagina, two in the cervical canal and one in the ovary. The histopathological diagnosis may be difficult if a pronounced secondary infection is associated with the tumour tissue and the tumour cells are well differentiated. Clear cell adenocarcinoma and Schiller's mesonephroma are obviously two different histological manifestations of the same tumour, and they may also occur combined in the same tumour. That the site of origin is in the remnants of the mesonephric duct must be regarded as still unproved.