Endometriosis and endometriosis-associated ovarian cancer (EAOC)

Abstract

Endometriosis is a gynecologic disease that affects over 10% of women of reproductive age causing pelvic pain, dysmenorrhea, and infertility, resulting in significant disability and reduced quality of life. Very recent genetic studies have suggested that endometriosis is a clonal disease in the epithelium and its development is independent of stroma, providing new insight into the genesis of endometriosis. The endometrioid tissue lining may also react by epithelial atypical hyperplasia and even neoplasia, in a manner somehow similar to that in the uterine cavity and under the same hormonal influences.