Malignancies Associated with Extraovarian Endometriosis: A Literature Review

Abstract

Endometriosis-associated ovarian malignancies have been well documented. Although these malignancies also occur as extraovarian lesions, little is known about them. Thus, this literature review aimed to further explore these rarely experienced tumors. A total of 257 published cases between April 1990 and April 2020 were found using PubMed, and 212 cases were included in the analysis considering Sampson’s criteria and the history of endometriosis. We classified these cases as follows: intestine, abdominal scar, vagina and vulva, peritoneum and deep endometriosis, urinary tract, uterine cervix, and others. Age of patients, history of endometriosis, types of past hormonal therapy, symptoms, histological types, and treatment were identified. The most common tumor site was the intestine. Endometrioid carcinoma was the dominant histological type. Contrary to the ovary, clear cell carcinoma was rare in extraovarian sites. On the other hand, clear cell carcinoma represented the largest number of abdominal scars. This difference may help us to understand the development of endometriosis-related malignancies. Hormonal treatment was mentioned in 67 cases and estrogen replacement therapy in 33 cases. Although risks of estrogen therapy are still controversial, the highly differentiated histological types and hormone-dependent characteristics of endometriosis-associated malignancy should be considered. Physicians should be careful about estrogen monotherapy after hysterectomy and long-term hormone replacement therapy in patients with a history of endometriosis.