Intestinal antigenicity of ovarian mucinous cystadenomas.

Immunofluorescent tracing by rabbit antiserum with specific reactivity against intestinal mucosa revealed cross-reaction with human ovarian mucinous cystadenoma epithelium and not with epithelium of any of several other human mucous epithelia. The mucinous cystadenoma epithelium apparently contains at least one but not all of the specific intestinal mucosal antigens. The findings support the view that such tumours are histogenetically of intestinal type, as might occur for example by unilateral intestinal development of a teratoma.