Hereditary Risk Evaluation for Borderline Ovarian Tumors Based on Immunohistochemistry

OBJECTIVES: Borderline ovarian tumors (BOT) are premalignant lesions. Approximately 10% of all epithelial ovarian cancers are known to be hereditary with hereditary breast and ovarian cancer (HBOC) accounting for approximately 90% of cases; the remaining 10% are attributable to Lynch syndrome, also known as hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC). The aim of our study is to estimate this risk based on screening immunohistochemistry (IHC). METHODS: Thirty-four patients diagnosed with BOT were identified. Family history, clinical characteristics, and IHC data (breast cancer 1, early onset [BRCA1], breast cancer 2, early onset [BRCA2], mutS homolog 2 [MSH2], mutL homolog 1 [MLH1]) were collected for all cases from the patients' medical charts. Nuclear staining of the tumor was scored as negative and positive. RESULTS: Among 32 patients, 14 (44%) had serous type and 18 (56%) had mucinous type. The mean patient age was 44 years (range 19-86).The number of patients with weak IHC staining for MSH2 and BRCA2 was 1 (3%) and 6 (19%) respectively. The median follow up was 21.8 months. CONCLUSION: According to the results, we discovered that 3% and 19% of patients with BOT had a risk of hereditary cancer based on IHC analysis respectively. This pilot study may help clinician to counsel effectively for confirmative tests.