Pathology of epithelial ovarian tumors

Abstract

One of the most difficult and challenging subjects in the field of gynecological oncology is the classification and understanding of the pathogenesis of epithelial ovarian tumours. The pathogenesis of these tumours, the variation of the morphologic types, as well as the accumulating data concerning treatment and prognosis, tend to be a source of frustration to gynaecological oncologists, pathologists and all scientists involved with the various therapeutic approaches. The clinical and pathological characteristics as well as special pathological and immunohistochemical features are presented, illustrated with several photos, in order to clarify the special features of each neoplasm. This chapter aims to provide the most up-to-date research on epithelial ovarian tumours, including the recent data on pathogenesis and the current strategies for diagnosis and prognosis. The WHO Blue Books, here the WHO Classification of the Female Genital Tumours; WHO Classification of Tumours series, 5th ed.; vol. 4, which forms the basis of this chapter, are of increasing importance to pathologists, to practitioners of other clinical disciplines involved in cancer management. As important are the base for uniform standards in diagnosis, so that the patients can benefit from multicentre clinical trials.