Liu P, Huang HQ, Bian C, Quan Y. Adenoid cystic carcinoma of the Bartholin’s gland: Two case reports and review of literature. World J Clin Cases 2025; 13(26): 108052 [DOI: 10.12998/wjcc.v13.i26.108052]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Hui-Qiong Huang, MD, Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Development and Related Diseases of Women and Children Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Key Laboratory of Birth Defects and Related Diseases of Women and Children (Sichuan University), Ministry of Education, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University, No. 17 section 3, Renmin South Road, Wuhou Distrct, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan Province, China. huanghuiqiong@163.com
Research Domain of This Article
Oncology
Article-Type of This Article
Case Report
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Clin Cases. Sep 16, 2025; 13(26): 108052 Published online Sep 16, 2025. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v13.i26.108052
Adenoid cystic carcinoma of the Bartholin’s gland: Two case reports and review of literature
Ping Liu, Hui-Qiong Huang, Ce Bian, Yi Quan
Ping Liu, Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Development and Related Diseases of Women and Children Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Ministry of Education, West China Second Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan Province, China
Hui-Qiong Huang, Ce Bian, Yi Quan, Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Development and Related Diseases of Women and Children Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Key Laboratory of Birth Defects and Related Diseases of Women and Children (Sichuan University), Ministry of Education, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan Province, China
Author contributions: Ping P analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript; Huang HQ designed the research study; Quan Y analyzed the data; Bian C supervision.
Informed consent statement: All patients provided informed consent.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Hui-Qiong Huang, MD, Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Development and Related Diseases of Women and Children Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Key Laboratory of Birth Defects and Related Diseases of Women and Children (Sichuan University), Ministry of Education, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University, No. 17 section 3, Renmin South Road, Wuhou Distrct, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan Province, China. huanghuiqiong@163.com
Received: April 4, 2025 Revised: April 28, 2025 Accepted: June 7, 2025 Published online: September 16, 2025 Processing time: 110 Days and 18.8 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) of the Bartholin’s gland represents an exceptionally rare malignancy with limited documented cases in the medical literature. It typically manifests as a solid mass that clinically warrants suspicion for neoplastic processes.
CASE SUMMARY
This case series details two cases of primary ACC cases involving the Bartholin’s gland treated with radical surgical resection of the vaginal lesions. Notably, divergent therapeutic approaches resulted in contrasting prognoses: The patient receiving adjuvant radiotherapy following surgery maintained disease-free status with no locoregional recurrence or metastatic progression through 58 months of surveillance. Conversely, the non-radiated patient experienced disease recurrence within 18 months postoperatively.
CONCLUSION
Our findings suggest that postoperative radiation therapy may significantly decrease local recurrence rates in Bartholin’s gland ACC, potentially influencing long-term disease control. This comparative outcome analysis underscores the importance of integrating adjuvant radiotherapy integration into treatment protocols for this rare malignancy.
Core Tip: In two cases of primary adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) involving the Bartholin’s gland treated with radical surgical resection of vaginal lesions, different therapeutic approaches resulted in contrasting prognoses: The patient who received adjuvant radiotherapy after surgery remained disease-free with no locoregional recurrence or metastatic progression through 58 months of surveillance, whereas the untreated patient experienced disease recurrence within 18 months postoperatively. Postoperative radiotherapy may significantly reduce local recurrence rates in Bartholin’s gland ACC, potentially influencing long-term disease control.
