Germ cell tumors in OVARIES?

[GonefromTX]

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Silly question, but you can only get germ cell tumors (cyctic teratoma, dysgerminoma, endodermal sinus tumor and choriocarcinoma) from a fertilized egg (after having sex) right?

So why would the germ cell tumors be in the ovaries and not the fallopian tube or the endometrium? Oocytes aren't fertilized in the ovary.

 

[jd989898]

Silly question, but you can only get germ cell tumors (cyctic teratoma, dysgerminoma, endodermal sinus tumor and choriocarcinoma) from a fertilized egg (after having sex) right?

So why would the germ cell tumors be in the ovaries and not the fallopian tube or the endometrium? Oocytes aren't fertilized in the ovary.

GCTs can arise from a non-fertilized egg. They can also arise from sperm, as evidenced by the fact that men get germ cell tumors, and they definitely don't harbor any zygotes. Young kids (~5 yrs old) can even get endodermal sinus tumors, clearly before they are sexually active

 

[GonefromTX]

Thanks. Another question: how can females get a Sertoli-Leydig cell tumor in the ovary? Arent these two cells only found in the semniferous tubules in the testes? Or are they remnant fetal tissues?

 

[jd989898]

Thanks. Another question: how can females get a Sertoli-Leydig cell tumor in the ovary? Arent these two cells only found in the semniferous tubules in the testes? Or are they remnant fetal tissues?

I'm not sure. I know it's due to an extremely rare gene mutation, so I assume it somehow reprograms the female sex cord stromal cells into neoplastic androgenic cells. Maybe someone else knows.