Tumors of the Ovary

Publisher Summary This chapter describes ovarian tumors as complex in histogenesis, structure, and function as the ovary itself. Ovarian tumors arise from gonadal tissues and not from included heterotopic tissues. The tumors are interrelated, and some structural combinations are more frequent than others. There is a continuous production during the adult life of the differentiated components of the normal ovary from the multipotent ovarian stroma. Many tumors originate from these tissues and exhibit divergent differentiation and maturational changes like those of the normal ovary. Mucous or squamous metaplasia occurring in the normal ovary or in the tumor is an important factor in determining the structure of ovarian neoplasms. Ovarian tumors have been described in many mammals and occasionally in amphibians and reptiles. Ovarian tumors in animals can be classified in a scheme similar to that adopted for man. All types have been found in animals, but the Brenner tumor has been described only in the dog. Although DMBA is the most potent chemical initiator of ovarian tumorigenesis, other polycyclic hydrocarbons have also been found to be active.