INCIDENCE OF TUBULOSTROMAL ADENOMA OF THE OVARY IN AGED GERM CELL-DEFICIENT MICE

Female mice homozygous for the germ cell-deficient, (gcd) mutation enter reproductive senescence prematurely due to a dearth of germ cells arising in embryonic development. The ovaries of young gcd/gcd animals are atrophic, composed of little more than stromal cells in a connective tissue matrix. By one year of age, 56 per cent of homozygotes have developed tubulostromal adenoma of the ovary while 100 per cent wild-type and heterozygous littermates are phenotypically normal. Since these animals develop ovarian tumours more frequently as a consequence of a single autosomal recessive mutation, they will be useful models for the study of ovarian neoplasia. © 1993, Academic Press Limited. All rights reserved.