ULTRASTRUCTURE OF MESODERMAL MIXED TUMOR OF THE UTERUS

A case of mesodermal mixed tumor arising in the uterus of a 57-year-old woman is presented. The tumor was a mixture of adenocarcinoma with occasional squamous metaplasia, stromal sarcoma, myxosarcoma and chondrosarcoma. Light and electron microscopic examinationsof the tumor revealed close transition between stromal sarcomatous component and each of other sarcomatous and carcinomatous component. The histogenesis of mixed mesodermal tumorwas discussed and it was concluded that the tumor might be derived from endometrial stromal cell which possessed the pluripotency to differentiate toward various epithelial and mesenchymal tissues including the heterologous mesenchymal tissue.