Abstract Introduction 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 Resistor ZP2-positive primitive oocyte-like cells in the adult ovarian surface epithelium of a patient with serous papillary adenocarcinoma.Case presentation 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.Conclusion 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 Vitamin D needs attention to be further investigated.