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Molecular features for timely cancer diagnosis and treatment – tumors of the ovary, fallopian tube and endometrium

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Abstract

Gynecologic pathology has moved, within only a few years, from being a diagnostic area devoid of molecular testing into a diagnostic discipline in which such analyses are becoming routine. The direct relevance of molecular characterization to the choice of treatment of patients with carcinomas originating in both the uterus and adnexae makes it likely that such testing will only expand along with our understanding of the molecular make-up of these tumors. As a consequence, gynecologic pathologists have become an integral part of patient management, rather than lab personnel providing external services.

In parallel, molecular testing is expanding as a tool for diagnosing rare tumors affecting these organs, including soft tissue tumors, sex cord-stromal tumors and germ cell tumors, as well as other rare entities. Increased knowledge in this area bears directly on the ability to diagnose these tumors in a reproducible manner, as well as recognize and consult on genetic diseases. Hopefully, despite the inherent difficulty in studying rare cancers, it will also translate into new therapeutic options for the malignant ones among these rare cancers.

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Funding

The work has been done with support of Fundación Científica de la Asociación Española contra el Cáncer (GCTRA1804MATI), Fundació La Marató TV3. (201919–31), and Generalitat de Catalunya (2021 SGR 0093).

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  1. Department of Pathology, Hospital Universitari Arnau de Vilanova de Lleida, Universitat de Lleida, IRBLleida, CIBERONC, Lleida, Spain

    Sonia Gatius & Xavier Matias Guiu

  2. Department of Pathology, Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge, IDIBELL, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    Xavier Matias Guiu

  3. Department of Pathology, Oslo University Hospital Montebello, Norwegian Radium Hospital, N-0310, Oslo, Norway

    Ben Davidson

  4. University of Oslo, Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Clinical Medicine, N-0316, Oslo, Norway

    Ben Davidson

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Ben Davidson wrote the manuscript part discussing adnexal tumors.

Sonia Gatius and Xavier Matias-Guiu wrote the manuscript part discussing endometrial tumors.

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Gatius, S., Matias Guiu, X. & Davidson, B. Molecular features for timely cancer diagnosis and treatment – tumors of the ovary, fallopian tube and endometrium. Virchows Arch 484, 339–351 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00428-023-03710-7

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