Molecular carcinogenesis in gynecologic neoplasias

Abstract

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide and accounted for 1.7 million new cases in 2012, which is a quarter of all new cases of cancer. In 2014, the American Cancer Society reported 235,030 new cases of breast cancer and 40,430 deaths related to breast cancer. Among women in the United States, breast cancer is the most common malignancy, the second most common cause of death from cancer and a leading cause of premature mortality from cancer in women. Ovarian cancer occurs with a lifetime risk of 1.4% in the general female population, but with a risk of 15-56% in women carrying a germline mutation of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is the leading cause of death among gynecologic cancers in the western world and the fifth leading cause of cancer-related death in women. Worldwide, about 200,000 women are newly diagnosed, with 125,000 disease-related deaths every year. Endometrial cancer is the most common gynecologic cancer in the USA, accounting for 40,100 new cases and 7470 deaths per year. Endometrial cancer shares similar patterns of distribution by age and geography with ovarian cancer. Overall gynecologic malignancies pose a significant disease burden, and novel therapeutic strategies are needed to decrease morbidity and mortality from gynecological cancer. Understanding the molecular characteristics of gynecological cancer ist crucial to develop new targeted therapies.