title: New insights into ovarian cancer pathology.
abstract: Malignant epithelial tumors (carcinomas) are the most common ovarian cancers and also the most lethal gynecological malignancies. Based on histopathology and molecular genetic alterations, ovarian carcinomas are divided into five main types [high-grade serous (70%), endometrioid (10%), clear-cell (10%), mucinous (3%), and low-grade serous carcinomas (<5%)] that account for over 95% of cases. These types are essentially distinct diseases, as indicated by differences in epidemiological and genetic risk factors, precursor lesions, patterns of spread, and molecular events during oncogenesis, response to chemotherapy, and prognosis. For a successful specific treatment, reproducible histopathological diagnosis of the tumor cell type is critical. The five tumor types are morphologically diverse and resemble carcinomas of the uterus. Actually, recent investigations have demonstrated that a substantial number of cancers, traditionally thought to be primary ovarian tumors (particularly serous, endometrioid, and clear-cell carcinomas), originate in the fallopian tube and the endometrium and involve the ovary secondarily. This presentation summarizes recent advances in the molecular pathology which have greatly improved our understanding of the biology of ovarian carcinoma and are also relevant to patient management.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Hospital de Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain. jprat@santpau.cat
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Prat
mesh_terms: D019313:BRCA1 Protein / Q000235:genetics; D024682:BRCA2 Protein / Q000235:genetics; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D000077216:Carcinoma, Ovarian Epithelial; D043171:Chromosomal Instability; D005260:Female; D018095:Germ-Line Mutation; D006801:Humans; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009375:Neoplasms, Glandular and Epithelial / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D057089:Pathology, Molecular
chemical_list: D019313:BRCA1 Protein; C492913:BRCA1 protein, human; D024682:BRCA2 Protein; C551750:BRCA2 protein, human