Ovarian Sertoli-Leydig cell tumors. A clinical, pathological and ultrastructural study with particular reference to the histogenesis of these tumors.

Ovarian Sertoli-Leydig cell tumors are rare, most of them being endocrinologically active and causing virilization. Their histogenesis and nomenclature are still under discussion. Six such tumors were identified in the Laboratory for Histopathology of the University Women's Hospital, Zürich. The clinical data as well as the macroscopic, microscopic and ultrastructural features of these tumors are analysed and discussed. In an attempt to clarify their histogenesis, the ultrastructural features of these tumors have been compared with those of two granulosa cell tumors as well as with those of a testis in a patient with testicular feminization. Our own results and a study of published data suggest that Sertoli-Leydig cell tumors arise from ovarian stroma. Because of their obvious morphological similarities to testicular structures they should be termed "gonadal stromal tumors of android type".