Advanced papillary serous carcinoma of the uterine cervix: a case with a remarkable response to paclitaxel and carboplatin combination chemotherapy

Papillary serous carcinoma of the uterine cervix (PSCC) is a very rare tumor, and is a recently described variant of cervical adenocarcinoma. We experienced a case of stage IV PSCC. The main tumor existed in the uterine cervix and invaded one third of the inferior part of the anterior and posterior vaginal walls. Furthermore, it had metastasized from the para-aortic lymph nodes to bilateral neck lymph nodes. Immnoreactivity for CA125 was positive, whereas the staining for p53 and WT-1 were negative in both the original tumor and the metastatic lymph nodes. We administered six courses of paclitaxel and carboplatin combination chemotherapy against this advanced PSCC. The PSCC therefore dramatically decreased in size. The main tumor of the uterine cervix showed a complete response by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and more than 95% of the tumor cells in the cervix had microscopically disapperared. This is the first report of PSCC in which combination chemotherapy was used and showed a remarkable response.