Imaging and diagnostic approach of the adnexal mass: what the oncologist should know.

Abstract

Early detection and characterization of ovarian lesions is of utmost importance for adequate management. Ovarian cancer accounts for 3.3% of all cancers in women worldwide but has only a 5% of female cancer deaths because of low survival rates. The majority of ovarian lesions are benign and have spontaneous resolution. The adequate discrimination between benign and malignant lesions is the most important starting point for a correct and optimal management. Ultrasound is the method of choice up until now for adequate assessment of adnexal abnormalities, no other method has proven superior. Along time, there has been many classification systems that aim standardization of adnexal masses The Gynecology Imaging Reporting and Data System (GI-RADS), published in 2019. The International Ovarian Tumor Analysis (IOTA) group standardized in 2013 the approach of adnexal pathology descriptions by ultrasound with the limitation of needing pathologic reports for complete assessment. The Ovarian Adnexal Reporting and Data System (O-RADS) is a lexicon designed in 2018 to standardize definitions of characteristics by ultrasound. This system offers an interpretation method to decrease ambiguity and recommends management guides according to its classification.