Relative frequency of ovarian neoplasms in children and adolescents

TLDR

Little information is available regarding the relative frequency of benign and malignant ovarian tumors in children and adolescents. This series of 353 primary ovarian neoplasms occurring in patients under 20 years of age indicates the comparative frequency of various types of tumors in young patients. In this cohort, germ cell tumors comprise 58% of ovarian neoplasms and are more likely malignant, epithelial tumors account for 19% with adenocarcinomas extremely rare, and gonadal stromal tumors represent 18%.

Abstract

Little information is available regarding the relative frequency of benign and malignant ovarian tumors in children and adolescents. This series of 353 primary ovarian neoplasms occurring in patients under 20 years of age indicates the comparative frequency of various types of tumors in young patients. Germ cell tumors, the most common category, represent 58% of all ovarian tumors in this age group and are more likely to be malignant (malignant teratoma, embryonal carcinoma, or dysgerminoma) than those in older patients. Epithelial neoplasms represent 19% of all neoplasms, but adenocarcinomas are extremely rare (three patients), and only two types, serous and mucinous, have been described. Gonadal stromal tumors, consisting largely of fibrothecomas, granulosa tumors, and arrhenoblastomas, are only slightly less common (18%).