Clinicopathological Study of Surface Epithelial Tumours of the Ovary: An Institutional Study

Immunohistochemical Evaluation of Notch1 in Ovarian Tumours and Its Prognostic Implications

BACKGROUND

Ovarian cancer is the fifth most common malignancy among women and the second most common gynaecological malignancy. Surface epithelial ovarian tumours constitute two-thirds of all ovarian tumours. Most high-grade serous carcinoma patients gain an initial complete response but eventually succumb to relapse and death leaving the overall survival grim. Therefore, new regimens targeting the pathways involved in metastasis and chemoresistance are essential for the development of more effective therapies. Notch signalling is one of the pleiotropic signalling pathways that plays a key role in differentiation and tissue morphogenesis. It has been observed that this Notch signalling pathway is seen to be deregulated in various cancers. It is thought to have an oncogenic role in ovarian cancer. Our objective in this study is to evaluate the immunohistochemical expression pattern of Notch1 in surface epithelial ovarian tumours and its correlation with the clinicopathological profile.

METHODS

This study includes a total of 100 cases of borderline and malignant surface epithelial ovarian tumours. Clinical data of the patients were obtained from the medical records section. HPE slides were examined and one representative paraffin block was selected for each patient. IHC of Notch1 was performed and analyzed. The staining pattern for Notch1 was calculated using the Q score.

RESULTS

Immunohistochemistry (IHC) evaluation of Notch1 in surface epithelial ovarian tumours in this study showed an increased intensity of Notch1 staining in high-grade serous malignant tumours. The grading and staging of tumours were compared with Notch1 expression. Statistical analysis was performed using Spearman Rank order correlation analysis. There was a significant correlation (0.01 level, two-tailed) between the grading and staging of ovarian tumours and Notch1 expression.

CONCLUSION

Assessing Notch1 expression in ovarian cancer by IHC is a useful tool in view of its clinical applications, development of targeted therapies and as a marker of prognosis. The intensity of the Notch1 stain appears to be directly proportional to the grade of tumour. This may offer a potential targeted therapy against the Notch signalling pathway in tumours that strongly express Notch1.

Histopathological Spectrum of Ovarian Neoplasms: A Single-Center Study

Introduction

Among female genital tract-related malignancies, ovarian tumors are the leading cause of mortality. The present study was conducted to identify the various histopathological spectrums of ovarian neoplasm (ON) according to the World Health Organization (WHO) classification in a single center.

Material and methods

This cross-sectional study was conducted over a period of one year (November 2020 to October 2021) in the Department of Histopathology, Chughtai Institute of Pathology (CIP), Lahore, Pakistan. The study included 390 cases of ovarian neoplasms (ONs). After proper fixation and thorough gross examination, sections were routinely processed and examined. The distribution of the various histomorphological spectrum of ovarian tumors was studied according to the WHO classification.

Results

Out of the 390 cases studied, 320 (82.05%) were benign, 11 (2.82%) borderline, 57 (14.61%) malignant, and two (0.52%) metastatic tumors. Surface epithelial tumors (SETs) (246 (63.08%)) were the most common of all, followed by germ cell tumors (GCTs) (115 (29.48%)) and sex cord-stromal tumors (SSTs) (27 (6.92%)). The largest percentage (36.15%) of ONs was seen in 21-30 years of age group.

Conclusion

The present study shows various histopathological features of ONs. Benign tumors are more common than malignant tumors. Among the benign tumors, serous tumors were most common of all. Thus, an accurate histological diagnosis is important to initiate a proper management plan.

Distribution of various histopathological types of ovarian tumors: A study of 212 cases from a tertiary care center of Eastern Uttar Pradesh

BACKGROUND

Ovarian tumors are one of the leading cancers in females with variable pathological types. This study describes the distribution, clinical and pathological details of various histopathological types of ovarian tumors in a tertiary care hospital in North India.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A retrospective data of 3 years were collected for ovarian tumors submitted to the pathology department of a tertiary care hospital. Data were classified according to the latest World Health Organization (WHO) Classification into epithelial tumors, germ cell tumors, sex cord-stromal tumors, and others.

RESULTS

A total of 212 cases of ovarian tumors were studied, 186 were unilateral and 26 were bilateral. Resection specimen, part of specimen, and block review formed 80.2%, 15.1%, 4.7%, respectively. Epithelial tumors formed the majority in 71.7% of cases followed by germ cell tumors (22.2%), sex cord-stromal tumors (3.8%) and others (2.3%). Maximum number of cases in the respective groups occurred in the age groups 31-40, 21-30, 51-60, and 41-50 years, respectively. Overall, benign tumors were 63.7%, malignant tumors were 31.1%, and borderline were 5.2%. The most common histopathological type of benign and malignant tumor was benign serous cystadenoma (18.8%) and serous carcinoma (9.9%), respectively.

CONCLUSION

In the present study, ovarian tumors were classified according to the WHO classification, epithelial and germ cell tumors were the major types of ovarian tumors. Benign epithelial tumor formed the majority with 46.2% cases. Serous cystadenoma and mature cystic teratoma were the predominant type of epithelial and germ cell tumors, respectively.