Copy number aberrations in benign serous ovarian tumors: a case for reclassification?

Serous ovarian carcinomas are the predominant epithelial ovarian cancer subtype and it has been widely believed that some or all of these may arise from precursors derived from the ovarian surface epithelium or fimbriae, although direct molecular evidence for this is limited. This study aimed to conduct copy number (CN) analysis using a series of benign and borderline serous ovarian tumors to identify underlying genomic changes that may be indicative of early events in tumorigenesis.

High resolution CN analysis was conducted on DNA from the epithelial and fibroblast components of a cohort of benign (N = 39) and borderline (N = 24) serous tumors using the Affymetrix OncoScan assay and SNP6.0 arrays.

CN aberrations were detected in the epithelium of only 2.9% (1 of 35) of serous cystadenomas and cystadenofibromas. In contrast, CN aberrations were detected in the epithelium of 67% (16 of 24) of the serous borderline tumors (SBT). Unexpectedly, CN aberrations were detected in the fibroblasts of 33% (13 of 39) of the benign serous tumors and in 15% (3 of 20) of the SBTs. Of the 16 cases with CN aberrations in the fibroblasts, 12 of these carried a gain of chromosome 12.

Chromosome 12 trisomy has been previously identified in pure fibromas, supporting the concept that a significant proportion of benign serous tumors are in fact primary fibromas with an associated cystic mass. This is the first high resolution genomic analysis of benign serous ovarian tumors and has shown not only that the majority of benign serous tumors have no genetic evidence of epithelial neoplasia but that a significant proportion may be more accurately classified as primary fibromas.