BACKGROUND: The origin of primary mucinous ovarian tumors remains uncertain. Recently, a number of published cases suggested a possible mesonephric origin. The aim of this study is to investigate the association between these two types of proliferation and to determine whether the theory regarding this origin of ovarian mucinous tumors could be further supported. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In our retrospective study, we included 406 patients diagnosed with a primary ovarian mucinous tumor. Clinical parameters were extracted from the patients' files. The slides were reexamined to identify any potential mesonephric-like elements. Foci harboring characteristics suggestive of a mesonephric-like component were subjected to an immunohistochemical analysis with GATA3 (Eurobio, L50-823) and TTF-1 (Dako-Agilent, clone 8G7G3/1) antibodies. RESULTS: The mean age at diagnosis was 47.4 years (range 6-94 years). The tumors (n = 417, 15 bilateral cases) were mucinous cystadenomas/cystadenofibromas (n = 305), borderline mucinous tumors (n = 84) and mucinous carcinomas (n = 28). Associated Brenner tumors were present in 16 cases and teratomas in 8 cases. Morphological analysis revealed 64 cases with a component that could be considered mesonephric-like. Two of these were TTF-1 positive and one of them expressed GATA3 weakly and very focally. However, these were interpreted as non-specific of mesonephric differentiation. CONCLUSION: Our series of 417 ovarian mucinous tumors revealed no associated mesonephric-like components. To date, only eight mucinous tumors associated with mesonephric-like foci have been reported in the literature. Our results indicate that the association between these two types of tissue is probably too rare to imply a potential role in their histogenesis.