Endometriosis and Gynecological Cancer

Objective: Endometriosis has been suspected of playing a role in the etiology of ovarian cancer. Design: This systematic review addresses the parallels and specific relationship of endometriosis and gynecological cancer regarding risk factors, histological data, genetic alterations, aberrant activation of oncogenic and antiapoptotic pathways, and options in clinical diagnosis. Data sources and eligibility criteria: We have performed a Pubmed search looking for all articles in English, using as key words "endometriosis", "ovarian cancer", "gynecologic cancer", "pathogenesis". Results: The evidence of the published studies suggests that ovarian tumors can arise from more than one potential source, endometriosis being one of these sources. Conclusion: Understanding the mechanism of the development of endometriosis and elucidating its pathogenesis and pathophysiology are intrinsic to the prevention of endometriosis associated ovarian cancer and the search for effective therapies. Keywords: Endometriosis, epidemiology, molecular pathogenesis, ovarian cancer