The impact of uterine neoplastic tissue in accurately examined Fallopian tubes in pathological diagnosis and clinical managment

ABSTRACT The presence of intraluminal uterine neoplastic tissue or neoplastic cells in accurately examined Fallopian tubes can pose serious diagnostic problems for pathologists. Indeed, this finding, with the simultaneous presence of neoplastic cells in the intraoperative cytology of peritoneal washing, might suggest the retrograde transtubal spread of a uterine malignancy and, consequently, can be responsible for its upstaging, with an impact on the therapeutic approach. In a comment on our previously paper, in which we demonstrated this unusual mechanism of metastasis in a case of uterine serous carcinoma, and by a mini-review of the retrograde transtubal spread of uterine carcinoma, we discuss the pathological criteria for this findings and its impact on the management of patients affected by all subtypes of minimally invasive uterine carcinomas.