Adaptative intima fibrosis in blood vessels in cervical carcinomas after preoperative cytotoxic chemotherapy

Angiogenesis is an important component of tumor growth. After preoperative cytotoxic chemotherapy, tumor blood vessels of a large caliber become incre asingly tortuous and their lumens narrow. The narrowing of the vessel lumen s results from fibrosis of the intimal layer, which is called adaptative in timal fibrosis (AIF). We describe AIF in three patients with cervical cance r after a complete or partial response to preoperative cytotoxic chemothera py. Two patients with no residual disease in the surgical specimen had seve re AIF and are free of disease at 12 and 124 months. The patient with resid ual disease had only moderate AIF and developed a recurrence. AIF has not b een described in cervical cancer. Our findings suggest that AIF may be a mo rphologic correlate of tumor regression following preoperative cytotoxic ch emotherapy.