Ovarian Cancer in Women with Intellectual Disability: Current Data

We evaluate ovarian cancer (OC) in women with intellectual disability (ID).

We reviewed the literature and added personal observations. The literature search included data from epidemiological studies on cancer incidence and mortality, institutional experiences, and case reports. We also used data from the Hérault Tumor Registry (HTR) in southern France.

A total of 72 articles met the inclusion criteria, which included 41 cases of OC. The review yielded 29 (74%) germ cell tumors, mainly in girls and young women, and only 4 (10%) ovarian carcinomas, all in adult women. In contrast, the HTR contained six cases of OC and one borderline tumor in adult women with ID aged > 45 years, but no cancer in children and adolescents with ID. These OC cases in adults were discovered at an advanced stage. We found that symptoms revealing OC in women with ID do not differ from those in the general population. However, diagnosis is more complicated in women with ID because they do not communicate easily and may express pain and unease in an unusual way, often through behavioral changes.

OC could be as frequent in women with ID as in the general population and discovered at a late stage. The literature review indicates that girls and adolescents with ID develop mainly germ cell OC, and few carcinomas have been reported in women with ID. In contrast, the HTR was similar to the general population, with carcinomas in women with ID and no OC in children with ID.