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.
