title: The development of high-grade serous carcinoma from atypical proliferative (borderline) serous tumors and low-grade micropapillary serous carcinoma: a morphologic and molecular genetic analysis.
abstract: Recently, we have proposed a model for the development of ovarian surface epithelial tumors. In this model, all histologic types of surface epithelial tumors are divided into 2 categories designated type I and type II which correspond to 2 pathways of tumorigenesis. Type I tumors include low-grade serous carcinoma, mucinous carcinoma, endometrioid carcinoma, malignant Brenner tumor, and clear cell carcinoma which develop slowly in a stepwise fashion from well-recognized precursors, namely atypical proliferative (borderline) tumors. Type II tumors are high-grade, rapidly growing tumors that typically have spread beyond the ovaries at presentation. They include high-grade serous carcinoma ("moderately" and "poorly" differentiated), malignant mixed mesodermal tumors (carcinosarcomas), and undifferentiated carcinoma. These tumors are rarely associated with morphologically recognizable precursor lesions and it has been proposed that they develop "de novo" from ovarian inclusion cysts. This model implies that the pathogenesis of type I and type II tumors are separate and independent but it is not clear whether some type II tumors develop from type I tumors. In this study, we attempted to address this issue by determining the clonality of 6 cases of high-grade serous carcinomas that were closely associated with atypical proliferative serous (borderline) tumors and invasive low-grade micropapillary serous carcinomas. We reviewed 210 ovarian serous tumors from the surgical pathology files of the Johns Hopkins Hospital and identified 3 high-grade serous carcinoma that were directly associated with atypical proliferative serous (borderline) tumors and 3 that were associated with invasive low-grade micropapillary serous carcinomas. A morphologic continuum between the high-grade carcinoma and the low-grade tumors was observed in 4 cases whereas in the remaining 2 cases the high-grade and low-grade components were separate. Mutational analyses for KRAS, BRAF, and p53 genes were performed on microdissected samples from the high-grade and low-grade tumor areas for each case. All 6 tumors demonstrated wild-type BRAF and p53 genes. Only 2 of the 6 cases were informative from a molecular genetic standpoint. In those 2 cases we found the same mutations of KRAS in both the atypical proliferative serous (borderline) tumor and the high-grade serous carcinoma component of the tumor, indicating a clonal relationship. The above results suggest that the majority of high-grade and low-grade carcinomas develop independently but in rare cases, a high-grade serous carcinoma may arise from an atypical proliferative serous (borderline) tumor.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Gynecology and Obstetrics, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Reiko
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dehari
authors.forename: Robert J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Kurman
authors.forename: Sanjay
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Logani
authors.forename: Ie-Ming
authors.initials: IeM
authors.lastname: Shih
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D018283:Cystadenocarcinoma, Papillary / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology*; D018284:Cystadenocarcinoma, Serous / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology*; D004252:DNA Mutational Analysis; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D042282:Microdissection; D008875:Middle Aged; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology*; D011230:Precancerous Conditions / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology*; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D048493:Proto-Oncogene Proteins B-raf / Q000235:genetics; D016283:Proto-Oncogene Proteins p21(ras); D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000235:genetics; D018631:ras Proteins / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D004273:DNA, Neoplasm; C117307:KRAS protein, human; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53; C482119:BRAF protein, human; D048493:Proto-Oncogene Proteins B-raf; D016283:Proto-Oncogene Proteins p21(ras); D018631:ras Proteins