European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

MALIGNANT TRANSFORMATION OF A MATURE CYSTIC TERATOMA; A CASE REPORT AND REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

*Akpor I.O., Ojo B.A., Agwa M., Terkula D.G., Nyaga T., Ngbea J.A.

ABSTRACT

Even though the mature cystic teratomas are the most common ovarian germ cell tumours, malignant transformation in them has been established to be a very rare occurrence. If a malignant degeneration occurs, squamous cell carcinoma is usually the most common type of malignant lesion diagnosed, followed by adenocarcinoma, and due to the diagnostic dilemma faced in resolving them clinically, the importance of histopathological evaluation has been pointed out in this report. It is commoner to find such malignant change in postmenopausal women, with associated poor prognosis. However, we report here the case of a 35 year old woman who had a histologically confirmed diagnosis of a well differentiated squamous cell carcinoma in a background of a mature cystic teratoma. She appears to have progressed favourably well following surgical intervention and conservative management.

Keywords: Mature teratoma, Cystic ovarian tumour, Malignant transformation, Squamous cell carcinoma.