Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Encyclopedia of Cancer pp 1–10Cite as

Ovarian Cancer Pathology

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:

  • 86 Accesses

Synonyms

Pathology of malignant ovarian tumors

Characteristics

General Classification of Ovarian Cancers

All ovarian tumors, including the malignant forms (ovarian cancer), are classified into four main categories:

  • Epithelial ovarian cancer

  • Sex cord stromal tumors

  • Germ cell tumors

  • Metastatic tumors

Twenty to twenty five percent of all ovarian tumors are malignant.

Epithelial Ovarian Cancer

Epithelial cell neoplasms account for 50–55 % of all ovarian tumors. There are benign, “borderline tumors” (of borderline malignancy or low malignant potential), and malignant forms. Malignant epithelial tumors are called carcinoma and constitute approximately 90 % of all ovarian cancers. The vast majority of ovarian carcinomas are adenocarcinoma, i.e., derived from a glandular epithelium. Primary squamous cell carcinoma of the ovary is extremely rare.

Traditionally, it is thought that epithelial neoplasms originate from the ovarian surface epithelium, which is in continuation with and similar to the...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

References

  • Kurman RJ (2002) Blaustein’s pathology of the female genital tract, 5th edn. Springer, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • McCluggage WG (2008) My approach to and thoughts on the typing of ovarian carcinomas. J Clin Pathol 61:152–163

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mills SE et al (2009) Sternberg’s diagnostic surgical pathology, 5th edn. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Baltimore

    Google Scholar 

  • Scully R, Young R, Clement P (1998) Tumors of the ovary, maldeveloped gonads, fallopian tube and broad ligament. Armed Forces Institute of Pathology Atlas of Tumor Pathology, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology, The Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA

    Peter Schlosshauer & Andrea Cziffer-Paul

Authors
  1. Peter Schlosshauer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Andrea Cziffer-Paul
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Peter Schlosshauer .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Abt. Tumorgenetik, Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, Heidelberg, Germany

    Manfred Schwab

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this entry

Cite this entry

Schlosshauer, P., Cziffer-Paul, A. (2014). Ovarian Cancer Pathology. In: Schwab, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Cancer. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27841-9_6925-8

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27841-9_6925-8

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27841-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Biomedicine and Life SciencesReference Module Biomedical and Life Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation