Ovarian Tumors

by Masnoo Adem

Description:

Ovarian tumors are a slow-growing abnormal mass of tissue in or on a woman’s ovaries. The word tumor is a general term for a mass. It can refer to either benign or malignant growths. Benign tumors are generally harmless and malignant tumors are cancerous. Ovarian tumors are typically benign.

Ovaries are mainly made up of three different types of cells. Each cell type can develop into a different type of tumor.

Epithelial tumors: These tumors form from the cells that line the surface of the ovary. This is the most common ovarian tumor. These tumors can be benign, borderline (low malignant potential), or malignant. 

Germ Cell tumors: These tumors form from the cells that develop into eggs. Most of these tumors are benign but some can be cancerous. These tumors account for less than 2% of ovarian cancers.

Stromal tumors: These tumors form from the structural tissue cells that hold the ovary together. These cells also produce estrogen and progesterone. These tumors are very rare and if malignant, are considered a low-grade cancer. 

Cause:

The causes of benign ovarian tumors aren’t exactly known or understood well. There is some research that connects some risk factors with the development of these tumors. They include obesity, infertility, and/or a family history of ovarian tumors/cancer.

With the malignant tumors, the risk factors of the epithelial form of cancer are known while those of the germ cell and stromal form aren’t. For epithelial ovarian cancer, the risk factors include age, family history, genetics, ovulation, and pregnancy. These mean:

• Most cases are women over the age of 50

• Having a close family member with the disease is the greatest risk factor

• Around 10% of cases are caused by faulty genes which increase susceptibility to breast and ovarian cancers

• Women who ovulate a higher number of times are at greater risk than women who haven’t ovulated as many times. Things that lower ovulation include breastfeeding, early menopause, and childbirth

• Never being pregnant or having your first child after the age of 35 is a risk factor

Treatment:

With some benign tumors, no treatment will be necessary. Doctors will keep an eye on it to make sure no problems arise. With other benign tumors that don’t go away, are painful, or continue to grow, surgery is usually the treatment. For larger tumors, a laparotomy will be performed.

With malignant tumors, surgery can be done to remove as much of the tumor as possible, known as debulking. Another treatment option is chemotherapy which is a cancer treatment where anti-cancer drugs are taken (orally or injected into a vein) to destroy the cells or stop their spread. Those who are in chemo usually are initially treated with surgery to remove as much as possible and then put on chemo to remove what’s left. Another treatment option is radiation therapy which is where high-energy x-rays or other radiation are used to kill cancer cells or stop their spread. This is a less common treatment option in ovarian cancer since it isn’t useful in killing cancer cells that have spread to other parts of one’s body. It can be useful in shrinking the size of a tumor before surgery or eliminating some of the symptoms in late-stage cancer.

In some cases, the surgeon may have to remove the entire affected ovary and Fallopian tube and in some rare instances, may even remove both ovaries. Removing one ovary will not affect the remaining healthy ovary.

Reference links:

https://cancer.coloradowomenshealth.com/non-cancerous/ovarian-tumors/index.html

http://pathology.jhu.edu/pc/BasicTypes1.php

https://www.cancer.org/cancer/ovarian-cancer/about/what-is-ovarian-cancer.html