KRAS mutation in adenocarcinoma of the gastrointestinal type arising from a mature cystic teratoma of the ovary

Mature cystic teratomas (MCT) in the ovary rarely undergo malignant transformation. Moreover, adenocarcinoma of the gastrointestinal type is much rarer. We present two cases of perimenopausal female pateints with mature cystic teratoma of single ovary, while local adenocarcinoma arising in the MCT. The malignancies showed immunohistochemical features of intestinal differentiation, such as strong positivity for CDX-2, villin and CK-20, and negativity for CK-7. Furthermore, the mutation analysis of molecular alteration revealed a KRAS gene mutation in the intestinal adenocarcinoma part, extending into benign intestinal-type epithelium linings. Yet the mutation was not present in the epidermal component of the teratoma. We present these as two unique cases of mucinous adenocarcinoma of the intestinal type arising from mature cystic teratoma. Moreover, we also submit that this KRAS mutation might contribute to identify malignant transformation of a MCT and suggest possible effect on targeted treatment decisions for anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) therapy in metastasized patients.