Stromal tumors of the lower female genital tract: Histogenetic, morphological and immunohistochemical similarities with the "Benign Spindle Cell Tumors of the Mammary Stroma"

I first proposed in your journal Pathology Research & Practice a unifying histogenetic concept for the category of the so-called ‘‘spindle cell tumors of the mammary stroma’’ [10]. In that review, breast tumors that had been previously labeled under various terms such as ‘‘benign spindle cell tumor’’, ‘‘fibroma’’, ‘‘spindle cell lipoma’’, ‘‘myogenic stromal tumor’’, ‘‘myofibroblastoma’’, or ‘‘solitary fibrous tumor’’ were regarded as different morphological and immunohistochemical phenotypes of the same disease, likely arising from a common precursor cell of the mammary stroma [10]. Reviewing a series of mesenchymal tumors arising from the stroma of the lower female genital tract (vagina; vulva; cervix), especially cellular angiofibroma (CA), angiomyofibroblastoma (AMF), and superficial myofibroblastoma (SM), I have noticed many impressive similarities with the category of the above-mentioned breast tumors. The aim of the present letter is to emphasize the morphological and immunohistochemical features shared by both tumor categories, and to propose a unifying histogenesis from a hormonally responsive precursor stromal cell.