Accidental Early Diagnosis of Endometrial Adenocarcinoma by Pap Smear during a Cervical Cancer Prevention Study: A Case Report

Endometrial carcinoma is less common than cervical cancer but the disadvantage is that there is no mass screen-ing method that can be used for early detection or prevention. The Papanicolaou (Pap) smear is useful for screening and preventing cervical cancer but occasionally also detects endometrial cancer, usually in advanced stages. Here we describe a case of endometrial cancer which was not detected in the initial Pap smear of a 40 year old woman. She had Low-Grade Intraepithelial Squamous Lesion (LSIL) with normal endocervical cells in the initial smear. Since she participated in a cervical cancer prevention study with antimicrobials and turmeric extract, her Pap smear was repeated within 5 weeks. Endometrial adenocarcinoma was clearly suspected in this follow-up Pap smear and the case was subsequently investigated and confirmed as Endometrial carcinoma. This case is presented for its rarity of clinical features: younger age, absence of common risk factors, and early detection because of cervical cancer prevention programs. A review of the literature reveals the potential of curcumin and turmeric extracts in controlling gynaecological cancers.