An immunohistological study of steroid localization in sertoli-leydig tumors of the ovary and testis

Abstract

Nine ovarian Sertoli-Leydig tumors, showing varying degrees of differentiation, one pure ovarian Sertoli cell tumor, and one poorly differentiated stromal tumor of the testis, were examined for the presence of testosterone, estradiol and progesterone with an indirect immunoperoxidase method on formalin fixed paraffin embedded tissue. Clinically all nine patients with Sertoli-Leydig tumors had evidence of increased androgen production, manifested by either hirsutism or virilization; elevated serum testosterone was found in all four patients in whom it was measured. The patients with the pure ovarian Sertoli cell and testicular tumors were asymptomatic except for the presence of a mass. Testosterone was identified in Leydig cells in nine instances, in Sertoli cells in six, and in poorly differentiated spindle cells resembling the mesenchyme of the embryonic gonad in two. Cells with vacuolated cytoplasm, both Sertoli and Leydig cells, though positive for lipid were consistently negative for testosterone. Estradiol was present in Leydig cells in nine instances, in Sertoli cells in five, and in primitive gonadal stromal cells in two. The pattern of distribution was similar to that of testosterone but the intensity of the reaction for etradiol was generally less than that for testosterone. Progesterone was identified in Sertoli cells in one instance and was weakly positive in Leydig cells in three instances. The presence of testosterone and estradiol in both Sertoli and Leydig cells as well as in primitive spindle cells resembling those found in the embryonic gonad suggests that the latter cell is the precursor for both Sertoli and Leydig cells. Cancer 42:1772–1783, 1978.