DO MUCIN-SECRETING SQUAMOUS-CELL CARCINOMAS OF THE UTERINE CERVIX METASTASIZE MORE FREQUENTLY TO PELVIC LYMPH-NODES - A CASE-CONTROL STUDY

Twenty-nine patients with stage IB/IIA squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix who had positive pelvic nodes were matched with 29 case s of node-negative squamous cell carcinoma by depth of invasion and ly mphovascular space invasion. By multivariate analysis, these criteria independently predicted pelvic node metastases. Intracellular mucin, d emonstrated by alcian-blue staining at pH 2.5, was noted in 21 of the 58 patients (36%). The frequency of mucin-positive tumors was not sign ificantly different between the patients and their controls (38 versus 34%, p = 0.78), nor was the degree of positivity. These results sugge st that, although a substantial proportion of squamous cell carcinomas exhibit mucin secretion, patients with these tumors are not at increa sed risk for pelvic node metastases. We therefore do not recommend rou tine mucin staining in cervical squamous cell carcinomas.