Recurrence of borderline papillary serous tumors: A modern dilemma

Abstract

When defining tumors originating from the epithelial surface of the ovary, a distinction between benign and malignant is made based on clinical and pathologic features. This distinction allows clinicians to make difficult decisions as to which treatment will allow the best possible prognosis for patients with aggressive lesions, while avoiding unnecessary operations for those who are not likely to benefit from surgery. We would like to present a patient who was found in the operating room setting to have an extensive recurrence of papillary serous tumor of the ovary. Her original operative diagnosis was that of stage IC papillary serous ovarian carcinoma. The tumor re-occurred as a ventral hernia and during abdominal exploration she was found to have extensive disease. Although the survivability of borderline ovarian tumors has been well documented, their recurrence and sites of involvement are not easily defined. Additional studies are needed to further categorize serous borderline tumors and to treat them appropriately. © Springer-Verlag 2006.