Ultrastructure of adenocarcinoma of Bartholin's gland.

The case of a 41-year-old woman with well-differentiated papillary adenocarcinoma of the Bartholin's gland was studied submicroscopically. The tumor consisted of three types of cells with different types of exocrine secretory granules: (1) Principal cells, which were the most frequently observed component of the tumor, had numerous small, secretory granules of round shape with very high electron density. These granules resembled membrane-bound dense bodies observed in normal Bartholin's duct cells. (2) Goblet-like cells had larger secretory granules with low electron density, resembling secretory granules of normal Bartholin's gland cells. (3) Eccrine sweat gland-like cells had large, irregular-shaped secretory granules with moderate electron density. This has been observed in neither normal Bartholin's gland nor duct cells, and resembles secretory granules of eccrine sweat gland cells. Furthermore, fibrillar bodies, frequently described in normal Bartholin's gland cells, were seen in a few tumor cells. These submicroscopic findings suggest that this tumor derived from Bartholin's duct cell, differentiating to gland cell and/or eccrine sweat gland cell.