abnormal cervical PAP smear leading to the diagnosis of gastrointestinal cancer without cervico-vaginal metastases

We report the case of an unsuspected G.I. cancer in a patient with no clinical signs other than ascites and positive PAP-smear on admission. Histologically, neither endometrium nor cervix were involved. To date, only 2 cases of primary gastrointestinal (gastric) cancers with no metastases to the cervix, suspected by PAP-smear, have been reported in medical literature. A few more have been reported with cervical metastases. The suspicion of intraabdominal adenocarcinoma was based on the evidence of signet ring cells found in the smear with negative cervical biopsies and negative fractional curettage. A postmortem examination confirmed the absence of genital involvement. Our aim is to remind the clinician that an abnormal PAP-smear, due to non gynecological malignancies, can, on rare occasions, be observed. In order to obtain a positive cervico-vaginal PAP-smear by a non gynecologic intraabdominal exfoliating cancer, both previous literature and our case suggest peritoneal effusion to be of major importance.