Analysis for steroid production of a Sertoli-Leydig cell tumor.

Sex cord stromal tumors of the ovary can be characterized by the production of virilizing steroid hormones. The authors present a case of a poorly differentiated Sertoli-Leydig cell tumor in which ascitic fluid was found to have a high concentration of androgenic hormones and precursors from the delta steroid pathway (17-OH progesterone, testosterone, and androstenedione). These values correlated with samples taken from the right ovarian vein, draining the ovarian neoplasm, but not with those taken from the left ovarian vein or the peripheral blood sample. Selective peritoneal fluid sampling may aid in the diagnosis of hormonally active tumors.