MUCIN HISTOCHEMISTRY OF OVARIAN BORDERLINE TUMORS OF MUCINOUS AND MIXED-EPITHELIAL TYPES

Mucin histochemistry was studied in 23 intestinal-type mucinous borderline tumors, 21 endocervical-like mucinous borderline tumors, and 24 mixed-epithelial borderline tumors. The Tatter two tumors, which are of mullerian type, had a mucin composition similar to that of normal endocervix, with abundant neutral and acidic mucins in approximately equal amounts and a slight predominance of sialomucins over sulfomucins. Intestinal-type mucinous borderline tumors showed several patterns that most closely resembled gastric mucosa with varying degrees and types of intestinal metaplasia. In conclusion, mucin histochemistry shows striking differences between these two types of mullerian borderline tumors compared with intestinal-type mucinous borderline tumors and confirm the subclassification of mucinous borderline tumors into intestinal and endocervical types.