[Ovarian surface epithelium and its histogenic relation to ovarian cancer]

Approximately 80 to 90 per cent of adult ovarian cancers are assumed to originate from ovarian surface cells. A series of morphological and biochemical studies has been recently conducted to test this. The ovarian surface epithelium shows permanent morphological changes such as crypts, inclusion cysts, villous processes and different forms of müllerian epithelium. The unique nature of ovarian surface changes and their abrupt disappearance in immediately adjacent mesothelia suggest that local factors may play an important part in modifying the growth and morphogenesis of the epithelium of the ovarian surface. Whether these endogenous and/or exogenous factors may also induce surface neoplasia is a moot point.