Clinicopathologic and
mucin histochemical characteristics of 90 cases of ovarian mucinous borderline
tumors (MBT) of intestinal (IMBT) and müllerian types (
MMBT) were studied to determine whether IMBT and
MMBT constitute distinct
tumor subtypes. The IMBT (77 cases, 78 lesions) contained goblet cells, absorptive cells and endocrine cells, which represented intestinal differentiation. The average diameter of IMBT was 13.4 cm. Five patients (6.5%) had stage III disease with
pseudomyxoma peritonei and one of them died from
tumor. Approximately 50% of IMBT demonstrated gastrointestinal characteristics on
mucin histochemistry. The
MMBT (13 cases, 14 lesions) consisted of mucous columnar cells and eosinophilic cells, with no intestinal differentiation.
MMBT accounted for 15.2% of MBT.
MMBT averaged 8.4 cm in diameter, and 29% were associated with
endometriosis of the Ipsilateral ovary. All patients with
MMBT had stage I disease, and none suffered from
pseudomyxoma peritonei. All patients whose follow-up data were available were alive and well, without evidence of
tumor recurrence. The
mucin histochemical findings in
MMBT resembled those of normal endocervix. Results of the present study suggest that IMBT and
MMBT have different characteristics and constitute distinct subtypes of MBT.