A. Gocht et al., GLIOMATOSIS PERITONEI COMBINED WITH MATURE OVARIAN TERATOMA - IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL OBSERVATIONS, Pathology research and practice, 191(10), 1995, pp. 1029-1035
Gliomatosis peritonei (GP) is the metastatic implantation of glial cel
ls within the peritoneal cavity of patients with ovarian teratomas. Th
e case of a young woman is presented who initially developed a mature
teratoma in the left ovary that was surgically removed. Nine years lat
er a mature teratoma in the right ovary was excised: upon which GP was
found in the greater omentum. To identify the cellular composition of
the ovarian teratoma and of the omental implants, immunostainings wer
e performed using antibodies against glial and neuronal antigens as we
ll as against determinants of hematopoietic cells. In the teratoma the
neuroectodermal part was strongly HNK-1-positive and contained GFAP-
and vimentin-positive astrocytes and some NSE-positive neuron-like cel
ls. In addition, neuroectodermal tissue was infiltrated by numerous CD
68-positive macrophages/histiocytes and CD20-positive B lymphocytes. T
he omental nodules consisted of astrocytes, which expressed GFAP, vime
ntin and desmin. The implants also contained macrophages/histiocytes,
which exhibited morphologic features reminiscent of microglial cells.
In GP, macrophages might release glia-promoting trophic factors, which
could allow the neural component of ovarian teratoma to implant in th
e peritoneal cavity and survive there for many years. Macrophage-deriv
ed factors might induce astroglial differentiation, which could explai
n why the peritoneal implants are mostly mature even when they origina
te from immature teratomas.