Genetic factors involved in ovarian cancer

Ovarian cancer is the most frequent type of gynecologic malignancy and is currently on the fifth place among different cancers worldwide. According to the estimations, ovarian cancer accounts for 1.3% of all new cancer cases. Ovarian cancer is considered a heterogeneous class of malignancies with a poor prognosis due to late diagnose and low treatment response. There are few types of ovarian cancer: epithelial ovarian cancer, germline cell ovarian cancer and stromal cell ovarian cancer. Epithelial ovarian cancers represent more than 90% of ovarian malignancies, and comprise high-grade serous carcinoma (HGSOC), low-grade serous carcinoma (LGSOC), endometrioid carcinoma, mucinous carcinoma, and clear cell carcinoma. Of these, HGSOC is the most frequent histological subtype. The diagnosis of most of OC cases, at an advanced disease stage is one of the reasons for high fatality rate and carries poor prognosis with current therapies. Several aspects can increase the risk of developing ovarian cancer, including genetic factors, such as age, postmenopausal hormonal therapy use, infertility and nulliparity. Among the genetic factors, most commonly we encounter BRCA1 and BRCA2, at approximately 17% of patients. Also these mutation rise the risk for another cancers like breast cancer, pancreatic cancer, prostatic cancer and melanoma. BRCA1 and 2 are genes involved in DNA repair and maintenance. Other genes that have a similar function are RAD511C, RAD51D, BRIP1, PALB2, CHEK2, MRE11A, RAD50, ATM and TP53.