OC Awareness Month #7 - Types of Ovarian Cancer

What is ovarian cancer ? Ovarian Cancer forms in the tissue of the ovaries the female reproductive glands. We are still not sure how or why ovarian cancer forms.  (Note:Recent research proposed that ovarian cancer forms in the fallopian tubes. ) But not every ovarian cancer is the same as every other ovarian cancer.  The most common form is Epithelial, then Germ cell and then Sex Cord Stromal. Each of these has subtypes.

Epithelial Ovarian Cancer ( Forms in the tissue covering the ovary)

• serous
• mucinous
• clear cell
• undifferentiated
• mixed epithelial
• endometrioid

Germ Cell Ovarian Cancer ( forms in the egg cells of the ovary)

• teratoma
• dysgerminoma
• yolk sac tumor
• embryomal
• choriocarcinoma

Sex Cord Stromal(forms in the sex cord/ ovarian follicles)

• granulosa cell
• Sertoli-Leydig

Source:John Hopkins Pathology (http://ovariancancer.jhmi.edu/home.cfm). The site offers excellent description of each of these different types and subtypes.

It is important that if you are diagnosed with ovarian cancer you know the type . The type of cancer you have may influence the treatment you have.

More on treatment tomorrow.


Dee
Every Day is a Blessing!

Are there really that many different types of Ovarian Cancer?

After writing the last post about CA-125 I started to think about what causes the differences between ovarian cancer tumor cells. Why is cancer antigen CA-125 ,a protein , not elevated (or not being produced at the same level by my cancer tumor cells) as compared to other women who have been diagnosed at the same stage.

When I attended the ASCO meeting, I learned that there are many different subtypes of ovarian cancer. Many more than those I was initially aware of. So I put together a list of the different types of ovarian cancer.

What type/ histology is your ovarian cancer tumor?

Epithelial

• serous
• mucinous
• clear cell
• undifferentiated
• mixed epithelial
• endometrioid

Germ Cell

• teratoma
• dysgerminoma
• yolk sac tumor
• embryomal
• choriocarcinoma

Sex Cord Stromal

• granulosa cell
• Sertoli-Leydig

Check out the source of my list at

John Hopkins Pathology ( http://ovariancancer.jhmi.edu/home.cfm). The site offers excellent description of each of these different types and subtypes.

So it seems that even if you have the most common type of ovarian cancer, epithelial, your cells may be different than a friends since you may have a different sub-type. The ovarian cancer cell type along with the stage is important in determining the type of treatment you will be offered, so knowing that information is important.

I know what subtype I am. What subtype are you? Check your pathology report or ask your doctor. It is good knowledge to have.

Dee

Every Day is a Blessing!