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Objective: Serous tubal intraepithelial carcinoma (STIC) is a known precursor of high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC). This study aimed to evaluate the proportion of STIC in patients with HGSOC and analyze the STIC-related prognosis in patients with HGSOC., Materials and Methods: All pathology reports at our institution that included bilateral salpingectomies of patients with HGSOC from January 2013 to December 2018 were reviewed by two experienced pathologists. The specimens from the ovaries and the salpinx including fimbria were examined. We analyzed the correlation between STIC and HGSOC and compared the clinical characteristics and STIC-related prognostic outcomes in patients with HGSOC., Results: Eleven of the 76 cases were STIC. BRCA mutations were found in 16.9% of patients with HGSOC. STIC was observed in 30.0% of patients with BRCA mutations and in 14.3% of patients without BRCA mutations. The incidence of STIC in patients with BRCA mutations was approximately twice that in patients without BRCA mutations; however, the difference was not statistically significant (P = 0.231). Further, the 5-year survival rate of patients without STIC appeared to be high; nevertheless, the difference was not statistically significant (59.7% vs. 47.4%, P = 0.633). Moreover, there was no significant difference in disease-free survival rate according to STIC (36.4% vs. 33.1%, P = 0.956)., Conclusion: STIC was identified in patients with HGSOC, and STIC incidence was prominent in HGSOC related to BRCA mutation. Although low frequency, STIC was detected in patients without BRCA mutation. Therefore, prophylactic salpingectomy may be useful for prevention of HGSOC., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Background: Arsenic compounds (As 2 O 3 and As 4 O 6 ) have demonstrated anticancer effects in various malignancies. In this study, the cytotoxicity of arsenic compounds on ovarian cancer cell lines and the anticancer activity of the combination of arsenic compounds and cisplatin IN chemoresistant ovarian cancer cells were investigated. Methods: We investigated the cytotoxicity of As 2 O 3 and As 4 O 6 and their combinations with cisplatin in the paclitaxel-sensitive ovarian cancer cell lines SKOV3ip1 and HeyA8 and paclitaxel-resistant ovarian cancer cell lines SKOV3TRip2 and HeyA8-MDR. Growth and apoptosis were evaluated by MTT assay and annexin V assay using flow cytometry, respectively. For detection of apoptotic cells, immunofluorescence was performed using a cleaved caspase-3 antibody. Cell-cycle distribution was determined by propidium iodide staining and flow cytometry. Results: Treatment of each cell line with As 2 O 3 or As 4 O 6 led to a marked dose-dependent inhibition of cell growth. As 2 O 3 and As 4 O 6 treatment induced caspase-3-dependent apoptosis in all cell lines compared to the respective control groups ( p  < .05). As 2 O 3 and As 4 O 6 induced apoptosis of paclitaxel-sensitive and -resistant cancer cell lines following G2/M cell cycle arrest ( p  < .05). A synergistic effect was achieved by combining cisplatin with As 2 O 3 or As 4 O 6 in the paclitaxel-resistant ovarian cancer cell lines. Conclusions: As 2 O 3 and As 4 O 6 can inhibit cell growth and induce apoptosis in paclitaxel-sensitive and -resistant ovarian cancer cell lines. Their combination with cisplatin resulted in a synergistic effect in paclitaxel-resistant cancer cell lines. These results suggest that arsenic compounds may be given in monotherapy or combination therapy with cisplatin for treating paclitaxel-resistant ovarian cancer.

Objective: Anti-N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (anti-NMDAR) encephalitis is a rare autoimmune and paraneoplastic encephalitis caused by the N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor antibody which is related to tumors, such as teratomas of the ovaries. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of Anti-NMDAR encephalitis associated with ovarian mucinous cystadenoma., Case Report: A 23-year-old woman with a flu-like illness, confused mental status, and behavioral changes presented to the hospital. A right-sided ovarian tumor was detected during the work-up and was suspected to be a teratoma that might have caused the encephalitis. A laparoscopic right salpingo-oophorectomy (RSO) was performed. Histopathological examination revealed a mucinous cystadenoma. She recovered gradually and had complete resolution of symptoms after surgical removal of the mucinous cystadenoma and immunotherapy., Conclusion: Even though anti-NMDAR encephalitis is caused by ovarian teratoma because it contains various types of tissues, ovarian tumors in anti-NMDAR encephalitis may not be limited to ovarian teratomas., (Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Purpose: We investigated the clinical relevance and spectrum of BRCA1/2 mutations in Korean ovarian cancer (KoOC) patients., Materials and Methods: Two hundred seventy-nine KoOC patients were enrolled from three university hospitals between 2012 and 2017. Their peripheral blood samples were obtained for BRCA1/2 mutation analysis by direct sequencing. Clinicopathological characteristics were retrospectively reviewed, and spectrum analyses of BRCA1/2 mutation were assessed by systematic literature review., Results: Frequency of BRCA1/2 mutations was 16.5% in KoOC patients. BRCA1/2 mutations were significantly associated with family history of breast/ovarian cancer (p<0.001), serous histology (p=0.044), and advanced International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage (III/IV, p=0.018) but not with early age-of-onset (age < 50, p=0.729). Literature review of BRCA1/2 mutations in KoOC patients found 111 (55 distinct) mutations with high proportion of Korean-specific mutations (24/55, 43.6%). Comparing the spectrum of BRCA1/2 mutation between KoOC and Korean breast cancer (KoBC) patients, the ratio of BRCA1-to-BRCA2 mutations was different, with BRCA1 (78.4%) being predominant in KoOC and BRCA2 in KoBC (59.2%). The most common mutation also differed between the two (c.3627insA of BRCA1 in KoOC and c.7480C>T of BRCA2 in KoBC)., Conclusion: The clinical relevance of BRCA1/2 mutations in KoOC patients was confirmed but that of early age-of-onset was not. Possible inconsistency in the ratio of BRCA1-to-BRCA2 mutations and the most common mutation between KoOC and KoBC may probably suggest presence of mutation sequence-associated penetrance tendency in hereditary Korean breast and ovarian cancer. These data may provide insights for optimal genetic counseling and prophylactic treatment for at-risk relatives of KoOC patients.

Objective: To date, epidemiological evidence has consistently supported a link between ovarian cancer risk and menopause. However, little is known about how menopause status affects the risk of specific histological subtypes of ovarian tumors. We aimed to analyze the differences in various histopathological subtypes of ovarian tumors between pre- and postmenopausal women., Methods: We reviewed the medical records of women who underwent surgery for ovarian tumors and received histopathological confirmation at the Busan Paik Hospital between January 1997 and October 2016. Pathological findings were regrouped according to 2014 World Health Organization (WHO) classification and subdivided into the following five main categories: epithelial, germ cell, sex cord-stromal, tumor-like lesions, and secondary tumors., Results: A total of 4,683 cases (3,404 premenopausal and 1,279 postmenopausal) were included in this study. Among the 4,683 neoplasms, epithelial tumors accounted for 52.6%, germ cell tumors for 27.1%, sex cord-stromal tumors (SCSTs) for 4.1%, tumor-like lesions for 14.0%, and secondary tumors for 0.8%. Among the epithelial tumors, malignant epithelial tumors were significantly associated with postmenopausal women (5.4% vs 22.1%, P < 0.0001), whereas benign epithelial tumors were significantly associated with premenopausal women (40.5% vs 31.9%, P < 0.0001). Among the 1,271 cases of germ cell tumors, most (97.6%) were benign mature teratoma and 2.4% were malignant germ cell tumors. Germ cell tumors were noted more frequently in premenopausal women than in postmenopausal women (31.3% vs 16.1%, P < 0.0001). Among the 194 cases of SCSTs, fibrothecoma was the most common (71.6%) followed by adult granulosa cell tumor (12.9%). The majority of SCSTs occurred in postmenopausal women (2.1% vs 9.5%, P < 0.0001). Among the 656 cases of tumor-like ovarian lesions, corpus luteum cyst was the most common (31.9%) followed by tubo-ovarian abscess (27.6%). Tumor-like ovarian lesions were significantly associated with premenopausal women (15.2% vs 10.7%, P = 0.0001). Among the 36 cases of secondary tumors, 66.7% of the metastatic ovarian tumors were Krukenberg tumors. There was no significant difference in the incidence of secondary tumors between the groups., Conclusions: We demonstrated the differences in diverse histological subtypes of ovarian tumors according to the menopause status based on the new WHO classification for Korean women.

Objectives: The protein V-set and Ig domain-containing 4 (VSIG4), a novel B7 family-related macrophage protein with the capacity to inhibit T-cell activation, has a potential role in cancer. Here we suggest its possibility as a therapeutic target and prognostic biomarker of ovarian cancer., Methods: Between January 2011 and June 2015, tumor tissues and peripheral blood samples were obtained during surgery from 10 patients with benign ovarian tumors and 22 patients with ovarian cancers. Messenger RNA and protein expression levels of VSIG4 in benign tumor and cancer tissues were examined by the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and Western blot, respectively. Soluble VSIG4 concentrations were measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The correlation between VSIG4 expression and the prognosis of ovarian cancer was analyzed according to the patients' clinicopathologic characteristics., Results: VSIG4 messenger RNA and protein expression levels in ovarian cancer tissues were higher than those in benign ovarian tumors (P = 0.0013 and 0.0001, respectively). Soluble VSIG4 concentrations were increased in patients with ovarian cancer compared with that in patients with benign ovarian tumors (P = 0.0452). Moreover, soluble VSIG4 levels were significantly increased in advanced-stage and recurrent ovarian cancer (P = 0.0244 and 0.0288, respectively). High VSIG4 expression of cancer tissue and low VSIG4 expression of plasma (soluble VSIG4) were associated with a longer disease-free interval (P = 0.0246 and 0.0398, respectively)., Conclusions: VSIG4 is overexpressed in ovarian cancers compared with that in benign tumors. This finding supports VSIG4 being used as a potential therapeutic target for ovarian cancer. Furthermore, soluble VSIG4 levels are associated with the progression and recurrence of ovarian cancer, indicating that soluble VSIG4 may be used as a potential biomarker for predicting tumor prognosis.