Architectural Histopathological Changes in Ovarian Serous Carcinomas

Ovarian serous carcinomas have a very large spectrum of growth patterns that contrast with the most primitive ovarian carcinomas, in which the morphology varies very much less. Serous carcinomas growth patterns include papillary and glandular aspects, but also cribriform, solid, microcystic and trabecular, some being common to the both high- and low-grade types of ovarian serous carcinomas, others being distinct. The study included 45 cases of ovarian serous carcinomas out of which five cases with low grade and 40 cases with high grade. High grade serous carcinomas were associated with mixed growth patterns, with large complex papillae, glands with irregular shape lined by stratified epithelia, often with areas of extended necrosis. In the case of low grade ovarian carcinomas we observed the association with more uniform growth patterns, micropapillary or glandular, the presence of optically empty slit-like spaces, psammoma bodies, the absence of necrosis and the association with a borderline or benign component. The recognition of the common histopathological aspects, allows a more accurate diagnosis of the ovarian serous carcinoma types and subtypes, which has a great importance in the actual era of personalized therapy.