Precursors of ovarian cancer in the fallopian tube: serous tubal intraepithelial carcinoma--an update

Ovarian tumors comprise a wide variety of entities. The largest group, epithelial ovarian carcinoma, can be classified into two main groups, type I and type II tumors. Recent advances in the understanding of ovarian cancer development have resulted in the finding of 'serous tubal intraepithelial carcinoma', which is believed to represent the precursor lesion in high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma. In this review, lines of evidence for this are discussed and possible future implications for clinical and research settings are outlined.