Site of origin of epithelial ovarian cancer: the endometriosis connection

Paolo Vercellini, P Vercellini, G Scarfone, Giovanna Scarfone, G Bolis, Giorgio Bolis, G Stellato, Giovanna Stellato, S Carinelli, Silvestro Carinelli, P G Crosignani, Pier Giorgio Crosignani
BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology · 2000 · vol. 107(9) , pp. 1155–1157 · doi:10.1111/j.1471-0528.2000.tb11116.x · PMID:11002961 · W2089578299
article OA: closed CC0 ⤵ 41 in-corpus citations
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⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-06 ⓘ

This study analyzed unilateral ovarian cancers and found a significantly higher proportion of left-sided endometrioid tumors, supporting the hypothesis that they may arise from endometriosis.

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Abstract

To investigate the left- and right-sided distribution of ovarian malignant surface epithelial tumours, data were collected on 209 women undergoing first-line surgery for Stage I and II disease. Considering the unilateral cancers, the observed proportion of left-sided lesions was 35/54 (65%) in the endometrioid, 20/45 (44%) in the serous, 19/35 (54%) in the clear cell, 13/29 (45%) in the mucinous, 2/8 (25%) in the mixed, and 2/5 (40%) in the undifferentiated histological type group. The proportion of left-sided unilateral endometrioid cancers was significantly different from the expected 50% (chi2(1), 4.74, P = 0.03) and very similar to that previously observed for benign endometriotic cysts, constituting further evidence in favour of a possible development of endometrioid cancers from the latter lesions.

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Condition tags

endometriosis

MeSH descriptors

Carcinoma in Situ Endometriosis Ovarian Neoplasms Uterine Diseases Carcinoma in Situ Carcinoma in Situ Cohort Studies Endometriosis Endometriosis Female Humans Middle Aged Neoplasm Staging Ovarian Neoplasms Ovarian Neoplasms Uterine Diseases

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 (7)

Cited by (41)

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