title: Serous papillary adenocarcinoma possibly related to the presence of primitive oocyte-like cells in the adult ovarian surface epithelium: a case report.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The presence of oocytes in the ovarian surface epithelium has already been confirmed in the fetal ovaries. We report the presence of SSEA-4, SOX-2, VASA and ZP2-positive primitive oocyte-like cells in the adult ovarian surface epithelium of a patient with serous papillary adenocarcinoma.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ovarian tissue was surgically retrieved from a 67-year old patient. Histological analysis revealed serous papillary adenocarcinoma. A proportion of ovarian cortex sections was deparaffinized and immunohistochemically stained for the expression of markers of pluripotency SSEA-4 and SOX-2 and oocyte-specific markers VASA and ZP2. The analysis confirmed the presence of round, SSEA-4, SOX-2, VASA and ZP2-positive primitive oocyte-like cells in the ovarian surface epithelium. These cells were possibly related to the necrotic malignant tissue.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Primitive oocyte-like cells present in the adult ovarian surface epithelium persisting probably from the fetal period of life or developed from putative stem cells are a pathological condition which is not observed in healthy adult ovaries, and might be related to serous papillary adenocarcinoma manifestation in the adult ovarian surface epithelium. This observation needs attention to be further investigated.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Medical Centre Ljubljana, Slovenia. irma.virant@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Irma
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Virant-Klun
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Skutella
authors.forename: Branko
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Cvjeticanin
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stimpfel
authors.forename: Jasna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sinkovec