Ovarian cancer in children and adolescents: A rare disease that needs more attention

T Baert; N Storme; E Van Nieuwenhuysen; A Uyttebroeck; N Van Damme; I Vergote; A Coosemans

doi:10.1016/j.maturitas.2016.03.003

Ovarian cancer in children and adolescents: A rare disease that needs more attention

Maturitas. 2016 Jun:88:3-8. doi: 10.1016/j.maturitas.2016.03.003. Epub 2016 Mar 8.

Authors

T Baert¹, N Storme², E Van Nieuwenhuysen³, A Uyttebroeck⁴, N Van Damme⁵, I Vergote³, A Coosemans³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, UZ Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Department of Oncology, Laboratory of Gynaecologic Oncology, KU Leuven, Leuven Cancer Institute, Belgium. Electronic address: thais.baert@gmail.com.
² Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, UZ Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
³ Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, UZ Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Department of Oncology, Laboratory of Gynaecologic Oncology, KU Leuven, Leuven Cancer Institute, Belgium.
⁴ Department of Paediatric Haemato-oncology, UZ Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
⁵ Belgian Cancer Registry, Brussels, Belgium.

PMID: 27105689
DOI: 10.1016/j.maturitas.2016.03.003

Abstract

Ovarian cancer is rare in childhood. This explains why there are only scattered reports on it in the literature and why there is a lack of specific pediatric treatment. This paper gives an overview of the Belgian data from 2004 to 2013 and reviews the literature. To index ovarian masses and malignancies in children better in the future, worldwide data collection should be improved and reproducible definitions of 'childhood', 'malignancy' and 'ovarian mass' need to be adopted.

Keywords: Adolescents; Children; Epidemiology; Ovarian cancer.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Child
Female
Humans
Ovarian Neoplasms / pathology*
Rare Diseases