Histological features of the contralateral ovary in patients with unilateral ovarian cancer: a case control study

Most of the surface epithelial-stromal tumors of the ovary are thought to arise from epithelial inclusion cysts, thus these cysts, and the original surface epithelium, are precursor lesions of ovarian carcinoma.

The histological features in contralateral ovary from 20 patients with unilateral ovarian carcinoma were compared with 20 ovaries of patients without ovarian pathology and with 12 normal ovaries of women with contralateral benign ovarian pathology.

Cortical invaginations were more frequent and numerous in ovaries of patients with contralateral ovarian carcinoma. The presence of cortical invaginations and epithelial inclusion cysts showed correlation in patients with cancer and in those without ovarian pathology, but there were no differences in the number of inclusion cysts when the three groups were compared. Mild cytological atypia was detected more frequently in the surface epithelium of contralateral ovaries of patients with ovarian carcinoma. Ovarian size, cortical thickness, stromal hyperplasia, psammoma bodies, and surface papillae did not show differences when comparing patients with cancer and control groups.

Cortical invaginations, a previous step in the formation of epithelial inclusion cysts, can also play an important role in the genesis of ovarian carcinoma.