Borderline and Malignant Surface Epithelial – Stromal Tumors of the Ovary

Epithelial ovarian carcinoma (EOC) is the fourth leading cause of cancer mortality among women in western countries. The incidence of newly diagnosed EOC in the US is estimated to be 22,430 cases per year with 15,280 deaths (Jamel A et al., 2006). Surface epithelial-stromal tumors are the most common neoplasms of the ovary. Their origin is likely the epithelium lining the ovarian surface and/or invaginations of this lining into the superficial cortex of the ovary. They occur in women of reproductive age and older. They are usually subclassified as benign, borderline and malignant. Due to the numerous histologic types of ovarian neoplasms, we will limit our discussion to the most common epithelial stromal tumors. We will be discussing the gross appearances, microscopic patterns and differential diagnosis. Based on the 2002 World Health Organization (WHO) classification of ovarian tumors (Tavassoli FA and Devilee P, 2003), Borderline and Malignant Surface-epithelial stromal tumors are classified as: