The Association between Endometriomas and Ovarian Cancer: Preventive Effect of Inhibiting Ovulation and Menstruation during Reproductive Life

Giovanni Grandi, Angela Toss, Laura Cortesi, Laura Botticelli, Annibale Volpe, Angelo Cagnacci
BioMed research international · 2015 · vol. 2015 , pp. 1–10 · doi:10.1155/2015/751571 · PMID:26413541 · W1745275742
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⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-07 ⓘ

Endometriomas are associated with a 2-3-fold increased risk of clear-cell and endometrioid ovarian cancers, preventable by inhibiting ovulation and menstruation due to shared pathogenic mechanisms.

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Abstract

Although endometriosis frequently involves multiple sites in the pelvis, malignancies associated with this disease are mostly confined to the ovaries, evolving from an endometrioma. Endometriomas present a 2-3-fold increased risk of transformation in clear-cell, endometrioid, and possibly low-grade serous ovarian cancers, but not in mucinous ovarian cancers. These last cancers are, in some aspects, different from the other epithelial ovarian cancers, as they do not appear to be decreased by the inhibition of ovulation and menstruation. The step by step process of transformation from typical endometrioma, through atypical endometrioma, finally to ovarian cancer seems mainly related to oxidative stress, inflammation, hyperestrogenism, and specific molecular alterations. Particularly, activation of oncogenic KRAS and PI3K pathways and inactivation of tumor suppressor genes PTEN and ARID1A are suggested as major pathogenic mechanisms for endometriosis associated clear-cell and endometrioid ovarian cancer. Both the risk for endometriomas and their associated ovarian cancers seems to be highly and similarly decreased by the inhibition of ovulation and retrograde menstruation, suggesting a common pathogenetic mechanism and common possible preventive strategies during reproductive life.

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Condition tags

mesh:D004715endometriosisendometrioma

MeSH descriptors

Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Menstruation Ovarian Neoplasms Ovarian Neoplasms Ovarian Neoplasms Ovulation Female Humans Menstruation Ovulation

Citation neighborhood

Papers in the corpus that this work cites (lower rings, blue) and that cite this one (upper rings, green). Dot size scales with the paper's in-corpus citation count — bigger dot = more influential within the endo/adeno field. Click a dot to open that paper. [ expand to 2 hops ] — adds papers reached through this work's immediate citers/citees. Heavier; up to 60 extra dots.

References (85)

Cited by (50)

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