{"paper_id":"30a4adcd-29c9-4a24-aba2-6403a5770242","body_text":"Abstract\nBackground\nEndometriosis is one of the most common benign gynecological diseases with an occurrence approximately 10% in reproductive age. Endometriosis has been proposed as a possible precursor of certain ovarian carcinomas such as clear cell and endometrioid ovarian carcinomas. In addition to this pathogenic link, the association with other gynecological tumors and breast cancer has been studied on an epidemiological basis in several studies.\nObjective\nThe aim of this review was to critically present the recent published evidence on the association of endometriosis with gynecological cancer, and with a special emphasis on ovarian cancer.\nMaterials and methods\nA search for eligible studies was conducted in three electronic databases, MEDLINE, EMBASE and CINAHL, for original research in humans published in any language.\nResults\nThe present review includes studies examining the association between endometriosis and different types of gynecological cancer (i.e., 25 studies on ovarian cancer, 8 studies on breast cancer, 8 studies on endometrial cancer and 2 studies on cervical cancer).\nConclusion\nThe present literature supports the pre-existing evidence suggesting an association between ovarian cancer and endometriosis and specifically its two histologic subtypes (endometrioid and ovarian clear cell cancer). 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EPS and AD: manuscript writing\nCorresponding author\nEthics declarations\nConflict of interest\nThe authors declare no potential conflicts of interest.\nEthical approval\nThis article contains already published data.\nInformed consent statement\nNo informed consent was needed, as all the studies included in this review are already published.\nAdditional information\nPublisher's Note\nSpringer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.\nRights and permissions\nAbout this article\nCite this article\nKalaitzopoulos, D.R., Mitsopoulou, A., Iliopoulou, S.M. et al. Association between endometriosis and gynecological cancers: a critical review of the literature. Arch Gynecol Obstet 301, 355–367 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-020-05445-1\nReceived:\nAccepted:\nPublished:\nVersion of record:\nIssue date:\nDOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-020-05445-1","source_license":"CC0","license_restricted":false}