CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, Vol 10, 194-199, Copyright
© 1960 by American Cancer Society
Endometrial Cytology
Hanns-Werner Boschann M.D.1
1 The Free University of Berlin and Rudolf Virchow Hospital, West Berlin, Germany.
Endometrial smears that have been properly obtained and fixed permit an accuracy of not less than 80 per cent in the cytological diagnosis of carcinoma or sarcoma of the endometrium. The general practitioner should therefore use the cytologic method routinely (1) when there is suspicion of the presence of a tumor in the uterine cavity, particularly where it is impossible or inadvisable to perform curettage, or (2) when curettage does not yield sufficient material for histological examination. In the latter case, smears can be made directly from the curetted material and fixed immediately.
No examination for the detection of cancer is complete without cytologic study of the endometrium. Patients revealing suspicious smears should be recalled for repeat studies. If the reading remains doubtful or is indicative of the presence of malignancy, uterine curettage should be performed. The method of endometrial cytology should not replace curettage but can be used to determine which cases should be studied histologically. On the other hand, its use may help to reduce the number of unnecessary curettages.
