Gynecology & Obstetrics
Open Access
ISSN: 2161-0932
ISSN: 2161-0932
Liane Deligdisch and Angelica Mares
Mount Sinai School of Medicine, USA
Scientific Tracks Abstracts: Gynecol Obstet
Ovarian carcinoma (OC) is a lethal gynecological neoplasm, mostly diagnosed in late stages, due to asymptomatic early stages and lack of reliable tumor markers. Compared to all stage OC cases (survival 32%), stage I OC have an 85% 5-year survival. Our clinical-pathologic studies revealed that serous OC, the most numerous histological type overall, represents a minority (<1/3) of stage I OC. Early diagnosed OC occur in younger patients with associated symptomatic pathology related to hyperestrogenic states: endometriosis, endometrial hyperplasia and neoplasia, infertility, and histologically are of endometrioid, mucinous and clear cell types. Early diagnosed OC of serous type are often asymptomatic, affect older patients, some BRCA positive, with personal and family histories of breast cancer, with frequent medical examinations. Stage I OC is a heterogeneous group of tumors with a different histological distribution, requiring different therapeutic approaches. Chemotherapy is not indicated in some cases and there is a need for chemotherapeutic agents different than those used for advanced OC. Despite histological heterogeneity, stage I OC may have a genetic similarity that causes their better biological behavior that is a reduced number of cancer stem cells (CSC). We looked into CSC theories about their contribution to tumor heterogeneity and acquired resistance and found them appealing and possibly able to explain the biological aggressive behavior of OC and chemotherapy resistance in the late stages. Identifying the cell of origin together with recognizing and quantifying the CSC in stage I OC ultimately might have important implications in the therapeutic approach of these tumors.
Liane Deligdisch graduated Medical School in Bucharest, Romania. She worked as a Gynecologist and General Physician in Romania and Pathologist at the Ichilov Hospital, Tel Aviv Medical School, Israel. She also served as a Visiting Professor at Magee Women Hospital in Pittsburgh, PA. She has founded the division of Gynecologic Pathology and directed the course of Gynecologic Pathology at the Medical School and has authored 143 peer reviewed articles, 7 textbooks on Gynecologic Pathology. She is the member of the French National Academy of Medicine.