Ovary 

Jeffrey L. Stern, MD 

Carcinoma of the ovary is one of the most common gynecologic malignancies. In many cases, it is curable when found early, but because it does not cause any symptoms in its early stages most women have widespread disease at the time of diagnosis. Partly because of this, the mortality rate from ovarian cancer exceeds that for all other gynecologic malignancies combined. It is the fourth most frequent cause of cancer death in women in the United States. About one in every 70 women will develop cancer of the ovary and one in every 100 women will die from it. The American Cancer Society estimates that there will be 22,000 cases of ovarian cancer diagnosed in 1994 with approximately 13,300 deaths.

Types  The most common form of ovarian cancer arises from the cells covering the surface of the ovary and is known as epithelial carcinoma . There are five major types of this carcinoma—serous, mucinous, endometrioid, clear cell and undifferentiated . Epithelial carcinomas are further divided into grades, according to how virulent they appear on microscopic examination.
    Tumors of low malignant potential, also known as borderline tumors, are the most well-differentiated malignancy (Grade 0) and account for 15 percent of all epithelial carcinomas of the ovary. The other three grades