Brenner tumours of the ovary: a study of the histology, immunohistochemistry and cellular DNA content in benign, borderline and malignant ovarian tumours

Unusual Presentation of Benign Cystic Brenner Tumor With Exuberant Psammomatous Calcifications

Transitional cell tumors of the ovary comprise about 1% to 2% of all ovarian neoplasms. Most of these tumors are benign Brenner tumors and account for about 5% of benign surface epithelial—stromal tumors. Spicules of calcifications are found in the stroma of about 50% of benign Brenner tumors. Although diagnostic challenges might occur more frequently with either of the borderline or malignant Brenner tumors, this problem is not that common when diagnosing a benign Brenner tumor. This study reports a case of benign Brenner tumor with exuberant dystrophic calcifications that obscured most of the epithelium and posed a diagnostic challenge in differentiating it from the more common malignant counterparts such as serous carcinoma and specifically psammocarcinoma.

Malignant Brenner tumor of the ovary: two cases of unusual histologic features of relapsed tumors

This study focused on unusual histologic features observed in 2 relapsed Brenner tumors. Case 1: A 67-year-old woman had a malignant Brenner tumor. The tumor relapsed was squamous-cell carcinoma. Case 2: A 51-year-old woman had a proliferating and malignant Brenner tumor with mucinous metaplasia. The relapsed tumor was a well-differentiated mucinous adenocarcinoma. These cases suggest that: (1) the relapsed tumor cells survived chemotherapy; and (2) the relapsed tumor cells transformed.

Flow cytometric analysis of nuclear DNA content in ovarian tumors. Association of ploidy with tumor type, histologic grade, and clinical stage

The authors undertook a prospective, flow cytometric study of nuclear DNA ploidy in 140 fresh ovarian tumors. There were 43 benign tumors, 27 borderline tumors, and 70 malignant tumors. Results of DNA ploidy analysis were compared to age at diagnosis, menopausal status, tumor size, histologic type, grade, and International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage. Although the majority of benign tumors were diploid, 19% were aneuploid. Among the benign tumors, DNA ploidy was significantly associated with tumor type and tumor size. All borderline tumors were diploid. Of the 70 malignant tumors, 64% were aneuploid. In the malignant tumors, DNA aneuploidy had significant univariate associations with histologic type, grade, and FIGO stage. By multivariate analysis, DNA aneuploidy remained significantly associated with stage and grade, both known predictors of survival in ovarian cancer. These results indicate that DNA ploidy varies with the aggressive potential of an ovarian cancer and may, at the time of initial diagnosis, provide additional information about tumor prognosis.

Flow cytometry using paraffin-embedded tissue: five years on

The use of paraffin-embedded tissue for flow cytometry is reviewed. A number of technical modifications of the original 1983 method have been described, aimed at improving the accuracy of DNA measurements by minimizing cell debris or reducing coefficients of variation, and at simplifying sample preparation. Over 100 clinical studies have now been reported, mainly assessing the effect of DNA index on prognosis, and those published up until mid-1988 are summarized in an appendix. More recently there have been developments in the use of monoclonal antibodies to measure oncogene products or proliferation markers in addition to DNA content. Detailed clinical evaluation and standardization of these more sophisticated methods is still some way ahead, but as was the case with DNA index, the use of archival material from patients whose outcome is already known should speed this process.