Endometrioid Ciliated-Cell Tumors of the Ovary: A Report of Five Cases

Five patients with ovarian endometrioid tumors composed predominantly of ciliated cells are reported; two patients had bilateral neoplasms. Two unilateral, predominantly cystic ciliated-cell tumors from women in their 40s were associated with endometriosis: one was borderline and arose in an endometriotic cyst; the other was borderline with foci of carcinoma and was associated with ipsilateral ovarian and peritoneal endometriosis. Five predominantly adenofibromatous tumors in the three other women, all postmenopausal, were not associated with endometriosis. One woman with a borderline ciliated-cell adenofibroma had had a prior contralateral adnexectomy, another with a borderline ciliated-cell adenofibroma had a contralateral ciliated-cell adenofibroma, and the third woman had a ciliated-cell adenocarcinoma and a contralateral borderline ciliated-cell adenofibroma. In two of the latter three patients the fallopian tubes contained foci of ciliated-cell hyperplasia. All five ciliated-cell malignant tumors were stage I, were treated by operation alone, and had not recurred 21 to 64 (mean 39) months postoperatively. Ciliated-cell tumors of the ovary should be distinguished from serous and mixed serous and endometrioid cancers because of different pathological and possibly different clinical features. Criteria for separating endometrioid ciliated-cell tumors into benign, borderline, and malignant categories are presented; whether any of these neoplasms behaves in a clinically aggressive fashion has yet to be determined.