Cilia and ciliogenesis in endometrial adenocarcinomas. An ultrastructural analysis.

Cilia in neoplastic cells were observed by electron microscopy in specimens from five of six consecutive patients with endometrial adenocarcinoma. Most cilia showed a range of defects, from misalignment and displacement of individual doublets to the absence of up to three peripheral doublets, the pattern varying from 9+2 to 6+2; the central pair of microtubules also was frequently missing. Single peripheral microtubules and displacement of the dynein arms were also observed. The high proportion of cilial defects in neoplastic cells (72%) compared with those in normal endometrium (26%), together with a broader spectrum of cilial abnormalities, suggests that the neoplastic state increases the number and range of cilial lesions.