[Borderline tumors of the ovary. New aspects on morphologic prognosis determination]

Epithelial tumours of the ovary with a tumour status between benign and malignant are classified as borderline tumours (BOT). They are particularly frequent in women between 30 and 40 years of age, emphasising the need for effecting a therapy directed at preserving fertility. To keep the risk of this therapy at a minimum it is imperative to effect accurate determination of the prognosis on the basis of an examination of the histological preparation. Conventional histology is insufficient for this purpose, thus requiring the use of additional morphological methods. In the present study the DNA of the cell nucleus was determined via quantitative cytophotometry and also via several tumour or differentiating markers by immunohistology, in healthy ovaries, 10 benign and 20 malignant ovarian tumours and in 20 borderline tumours (BOT). The DNA histograms of the tumours classified histologically as BOT, yielded distribution patterns pointing towards a benign, proliferative or malignant potency of the tumours without a correlation to conventional histology being present in each case. Immunohistological identification of the carcinoembryonal antigen (CEA) and of the blood group substances (A, B, Lewis, Lewis) produced characteristic distribution patterns which correlated with the tendency to proliferation in DNA cytophotometry. To achieve relevant determination of prognosis of BOT in individual cases, conventional histology should be complemented by additional examinations using DNA cytophotometry and immunhistology as diagnostic tools.