Pathology of Ovarian Cancer

Ovarian cancer is the fifth leading cause of cancer death in American women. The term ‘ovarian cancer’ is loosely used by laymen to refer to ovarian malignancies from all classes of ovarian tumors (sex-cord stromal, germ cell and epithelial). In this chapter, we will discuss specifically the ovarian carcinomas, derived from epithelium, historically thought to be derived from the germinal epithelium but now shown to include fallopian tube epithelium. Ovarian carcinomas constitute a diverse group of neoplasms for which this chapter will discuss: clinical features including symptoms, gross findings, tumor histology with illustrations, immunohistochemical features used in working up the pathologic diagnosis, molecular features, and prognosis.

Keywords: BRCA, Borderline, Clear cell, ERBB2, Endometrioid, Hereditary, HNPCC, KRAS, Low-grade, Mucinous, P53, PIK3CA, Pathogenesis, Prognosis, RRSO, Serous, STIC, PTEN, STIL.