Mature cystic teratomas arise from meiotic oocytes, but not from pre-meiotic oogonia.

Mature cystic teratomas (MCTs) in the ovaries have been thought to originate from germ cells from all developmental stages, i.e., from pre-meiotic oogonia through meiotic oocytes to mature post-meiotic ova. This view was based on research on MCTs by classical methods, including those involving centromeric heteromorphisms in karyotypes, enzyme polymorphisms, and DNA polymorphisms. However, insufficient genomic information was obtained in those studies. The current study aimed to confirm the cytogenetic origin of ovarian MCTs by using short tandem repeat (STR) polymorphism analysis to obtain sufficient genomic information, especially in connection with centromeric loci. Tissue samples of MCTs (57 ovaries from 51 patients, 91 MCTs, 156 specimens in total) obtained from cystectomies or oophorectomies were used. We categorized the specimens into two groups: i) solid components of MCTs and ii) cyst walls. The numbers of solid components of MCTs from pre-meiotic oogonia, primary oocytes, secondary oocytes, and ova were 0, 33, 16, and 15, respectively. There were no pre-meiotic oogonia in this series of solid-component specimens. We propose a hypothesis for the tumorigenesis of ovarian MCTs: the precursors of ovarian MCTs are not functional oocytes or ova, but are primary oocytes that have escaped from meiotic arrest. This hypothesis could satisfactorily explain the lack of pre-meiotic teratomas observed in this study and the nearly equal distribution of teratomas originating from primary oocytes, secondary oocytes, and ova in previous studies. Furthermore, this hypothesis could provide a starting point for determining the mechanism underlying tumorigenesis of ovarian MCTs.