OBJECTIVE. This study presents the MR appearances of five women with a tota
l of six proven dermoid cysts of the ovary with malignant transformation. T
o our knowledge, the MR findings of this entity have not been reported.
CONCLUSION. The lesions appeared to be fat-containing tumors with a solid c
omponent (4/6) that extended transmurally (4/6) and extensively invaded nei
ghboring pelvic organs (3/6). The supervening malignancy was squamous cell
carcinoma in four tumors, melanoma in one, and transitional cell carcinoma
in one. The mode of spread differed from that of common ovarian tumors in t
hat it included transmural extension and local invasion, reflecting squamou
s cell carcinoma.