A study on the melanin-laden dendritic cell (melanocyte) in ovarian cystic teratoma

To confirm the existence and to analyse the distribution of the melanocyte in cystic teratoma of the ovary, 51 cases were collected, among which 47 were found suitable for gross and histological examinations. The tissue components of cystic teratoma where the melanocyte was seen more or less associating were; the squamous, cuboidal and columnar cell epithelia especially the epidermal epithelium, the brain tissue principally the leptomeninx, and the interstitium. The frequency of melanocytes' association in the respective tissue was shown and compared between each other. One thing which was quite interesting for us was the relationship between the existence of brain tissue and the development of melanocyte in cystic teratoma. The melanocyte appeared in the above tissues, especially the interstitium, of cystic teratoma more frequently when the brain tissue was coexisting in the same tumor. These findings seem to be of meaningful suggestions concerning the melanocytogenesis not only of cystic teratoma of the ovary, but also in a physiological condition in man.