Accidental detection of nonmetastatic ovarian adenocarcinoma in tissue samples recovered during dilatation and curettage

We report two patients with ovarian cancer who were diagnosed with primary endometrial cancer when detached fragments of adenocarcinoma were identified in their dilatation and curettage specimens. Retrospectively, a fragment of fallopian tube and ovarian stroma were identified in the specimens. These findings served to alert the pathologist to the possibility that extrauterine sampling had occurred as a result of perforation of uterine wall during dilatation and curettage. Previous studies have focused on the cytologic detection of extrauterine cancer or on cases where metastasis to the endometrium has led to a misdiagnosis of primary endometrial cancer.