Recent Advances in Endometriosis With Emphasis on Pathogenesis, Molecular Pathology, and Neoplastic Transformation

Michael Wells
International journal of gynecological pathology : official journal of the International Society of Gynecological Pathologists · 2004 · vol. 23(4) , pp. 316–320 · doi:10.1097/01.pgp.0000139636.94352.89 · PMID:15381900 · W1965495939
review OA: closed CC0 ⤵ 25 in-corpus citations
View on OpenAlex View on PubMed View at publisher
⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-07 ⓘ

This review explores endometriosis pathogenesis, molecular findings like monoclonality and PTEN mutations, and its association with an increased risk of ovarian cancers, particularly endometrioid and clear cell adenocarcinomas.

One-sentence paraphrase of the abstract; not a substitute for reading it. No clinical advice. How this works

Abstract

This article reviews recent advances in our understanding of endometriosis with special reference to its pathogenesis, recent molecular studies, and relationship to neoplasia. Pathogenetic factors include familial predisposition, immunological factors, cell adhesion factors, angiogenic factors, and hormonal factors. Recent molecular findings in endometriosis include the monoclonality of endometriotic cysts and loss of heterozygosity in the majority of cases associated with adenocarcinoma. Women with a long-standing history of endometriosis have an increased risk of ovarian cancer, most commonly endometrioid and clear cell adenocarcinomas. In these cases, there is a high frequency of atypia in the endometriosis, and the endometriosis and the associated ovarian carcinoma may show identical PTEN mutations.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Condition tags

mesh:D004715endometriosis

MeSH descriptors

Cell Transformation, Neoplastic Endometriosis Endometriosis Carcinoma, Endometrioid Carcinoma, Endometrioid Cell Transformation, Neoplastic Diagnosis, Differential Endometriosis Female Humans Precancerous Conditions Precancerous Conditions Precancerous Conditions

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 (45)

Cited by (25)

Source provenance

europepmc
last seen: 2026-06-04T01:30:01.192114+00:00
openalex
last seen: 2026-06-04T00:00:01.174412+00:00
pubmed
last seen: 2026-05-13T22:12:26.305326+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK