Cancers of the fallopian tubes and peritoneum (the tissue that lines the abdomen) often begin in the same kind of tissue as ovarian cancer, and receive the same treatment.
The ovaries are two walnut-sized glands in the female reproductive system, located at on each side of the uterus, near the ends of the fallopian tubes. These glands store eggs and secrete female hormones involved in menstruation and fertility.
Ovarian cancer begins in one of three ovarian cell types:
- Epithelial cells which cover the ovaries’ surface. Epithelial ovarian cancer is the most common type, accounting for nine out of ten cases. Sometimes the cancer begins in a fallopian tube or in the peritoneum and spreads to the ovary. Fallopian tube and primary peritoneal cancers are treated the same as ovarian epithelial cancer.
- Germ cells are the cells that make up individual eggs. Ovarian germ cell tumors typically occur in teenage girls or young women and affect just one ovary.
- Stromal cells which produce the female hormones, estrogen and progesterone, are found in the supporting connective tissue of the ovary.
Both germ cell and stromal cell tumors are rare and together account for less than 10 percent of ovarian cancer cases. These cancers may be treated with different chemotherapy types than epithelial tumors. Younger patients with these cancer types may be eligible for fertility-sparing surgery.
Ovarian cancer often goes undetected due to a lack of symptoms until it reaches an advanced stage, and has spread to other organs.
Ovarian low-malignant potential tumors
Some ovarian tumors have abnormal cells in the tissue covering the ovary. These abnormal cells have the potential to become cancer, but usually they do not and the tumor remains confined to the ovary. (Both ovaries should be checked for disease.) Low-malignant potential tumors are usually treated with surgery.