Adenoid cystic carcinoma of Bartholin's gland: a clinical, immunohistochemical and ultrastructural study of a case with regard to its histogenesis.

Adenoid cystic carcinoma of Bartholin's gland is a rare tumor, of which 45 cases including the present one have been reported in the literature. Although the histogenesis of this tumor is still controversial, the tumor is suspected to be of myoepithelial origin, and most studies have been performed on the salivary glands with few reports concerning Bartholin's gland. We report a case of adenoid cystic carcinoma of Bartholin's gland with regard to its histogenesis. A typical tumor nest had three main components: true luminary structures containing sialomucins, solid monotonous cells of a myoepithelial nature, and numerous pseudocysts containing abundant proteoglycans and basal membrane-like materials. From these results we speculate that reserve cells located in the intercalated small ducts of Bartholin's gland may have the potential to differentiate into two cell types, myoepithelial and luminary cells, the former forming the pseudocysts.