H Gharwan et al. Hormones and epithelial 22:6 R339–R363 Review ovarian cancer The role of reproductive hormones in epithelial ovarian carcinogenesis Helen Gharwan1, Kristen P Bunch2,3 and Christina M Annunziata2 1National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, 10 Center Drive, Building 10, 12N226, Bethesda, Correspondence Maryland 20892-1906, USA should be addressed 2Women’s Malignancies Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Center for Cancer Research, to H Gharwan Bethesda, Maryland, USA Email 3Department of Gynecologic Oncology, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
[email protected] Abstract Epithelial ovarian cancer comprises w85% of all ovarian cancer cases. Despite acceptance Key Words regarding the influence of reproductive hormones on ovarian cancer risk and considerable " ovarian cancer advances in the understanding of epithelial ovarian carcinogenesis on a molecular level, " hormone action complete understanding of the biologic processes underlying malignant transformation of " reproductive ovarian surface epithelium is lacking. Various hypotheses have been proposed over the past " immune several decades to explain the etiology of the disease. The role of reproductive hormones in " endocrine epithelial ovarian carcinogenesis remains a key topic of research. Primary questions in the field of ovarian cancer biology center on its developmental cell of origin, the positive and negative effects of each class of hormones on ovarian cancer initiation and progression, and the role of the immune system in the ovarian cancer microenvironment. The development of the female reproductive tract is dictated by the hormonal milieu during embryogenesis. Endocrine-Related Cancer Intensive research efforts have revealed that ovarian cancer is a heterogenous disease that may develop from multiple extra-ovarian tissues, including both Mu¨ llerian (fallopian tubes, endometrium) and non-Mu¨ llerian structures (gastrointestinal tissue), contributing to its heterogeneity and distinct histologic subtypes.