Ovarian intraepithelial neoplasia demonstrated in patients with stage I ovarian carcinoma.

Retrospective review of sections of ovary from 50 patients with stage I, grade 1-3, epithelial ovarian carcinoma was performed to assess presence of cellular and nuclear atypia in noncancerous tissue adjacent to the primary tumor; ovarian tissue from 50 patients undergoing incidental oophorectomy was reviewed as well. Atypia was more common in cancer patients, and finding the combination of nuclear atypia, defined as presence of pleomorphism or irregular chromatin distribution, with cellular atypia, defined as presence of stratification or loss of polarity, allowed separation of cancer and control groups with 98% sensitivity and 100% specificity. Presence of nuclear and cellular atypia was used to define ovarian intraepithelial neoplasia (OIN). If OIN is demonstrated to precede ovarian carcinoma, then it may offer insights into the development of ovarian cancer and may eventually increase the feasibility of screening for this disease.