[Neural proliferation as a concomitant finding in neoplasias and benign ectopias of the uterine cervix].

Histological examinations of the uterine cervix showed neural proliferations structurally resembling microscopically small neuromas, neurofibromas and vascular neurofibromatoses. They were found regularly (83%) with existing epithelial neoplasias, and much less frequently (in 7 of 14 cases) with glandular ectopias with focally developed benign metaplastic squamous epithelium. These pictures were not found in normal cases with unchanged cylindrical epithelium in the cervical canal and unchanged squamous epithelium on the endocervix. The neural structures thus prove to be findings accompanying epithelial alterations. Their frequency is proportional to the extent of epithelial change. Along with other findings, the neural proliferations are taken as an argument against the usual concept of the absolute autonomy of cancerous epithelium.