The fallopian tube: a change in the paradigm of the ovarian carcinogenesis

Abstract

Epithelial ovarian cancer is the most severe gynecological cancers, with a low five-year survival, estimated at 35% at any stage (1). A true “silent killer” due to a late diagnosis almost always beyond all therapeutic resources, however, it has a good prognosis, when discovered at an early stage (stage IA at 90% and 70% at stage II) (1,2). Until the early 2000s, various theories on ovarian carcinogenesis were proposed, which focused on the ovary itself and its superficial epithelium with complex functional roles endowed with plastic properties and differentiation (3). Since 2001, new theories based on immunohistochemical and molecular studies have demonstrated the dominant role of the fallopian tube in the genesis of ovarian cancer (1,2).