The Association of Benign and Malignant Ovarian Adenofibromas with Breast Cancer and Thyroid Disorders

Abstract

An unexpected association with breast cancer and thyroid disorders was found during a review of 91 cases of benign and malignant ovarian adenofibromas. Sixty-three tumors were benign, 11 had areas of borderline neoplasms, and 17 had a component of carcinoma. Such tumors were divided into glandular/cystic (61 cases) and papillary (30 cases) according to their gross and microscopic appearance. Among the 61 patients with glandular/cystic adenofibromas, 13 (21%) had breast cancer and 19 (31%) also had thyroid disorders. Among the 30 patients with papillary adenofibromas there were no cases of breast cancer and only 2 patients had thyroid disorders. The average age of the patients with ovarian adenofibroma and breast cancer or thyroid disorders was higher (66 years) than that of patients without breast cancer or thyroid disorders (55 years). More patients with breast cancer and thyroid disorders had bilateral adenofibromas than patients without breast cancer or thyroid disorders. We also reviewed the medical records of 100 patients with ovarian cancer without adenofibroma component, 100 patients with breast cancer, and 100 patients with ovarian and breast cancer. Six percent of patients with ovarian cancer had breast cancer and 16% of each one of these groups had thyroid disorders. This unexpected association found between glandular/cystic adenofibromas, breast cancer, and thyroid disorders might be explained by defects common to these organs. Disorders of some of these organs have been linked by common genetic changes and it is known that these organs are under the influence of similar hormones. Mutations of PTEN have been found in breast and thyroid cancer. The thyroid and ovaries are controlled by glycoprotein hormones of the pituitary gland, which have common alpha subunits.

The Sodium Iodide Symporter (NIS) and Potential Regulators in Normal, Benign and Malignant Human Breast Tissue

“…RARβ2 overexpression has been shown to result in decreased metastatic potential of MDA-MB-435 in vivo [31]. Reports of decreased THRβ expression in breast tumours relative to normal tissue [21], [23], [32], which was also observed in the current study, and THRβ1 suppression of tumour invasiveness and metastasis [21] suggest an anti-tumour role for THRβ. Based on these studies, and the data presented here, it may be postulated that in rapidly proliferating mammary epithelial cells, loss of expression of these genes may be involved in tumour pathogenesis.…”

A new tissue-agnostic microfluidic device to model physiology and disease: the lattice platform

“…28,47 Whether cilia beating in the fallopian tube of women with PCOS is disrupted remains to be clinically verified. Furthermore, the increased proliferation of cells in the murine oviductal epithelium cell aggregates and in human explants in response to hyperandrogenism supports data from animal models for ovarian surface epithelium 48 and implicates a possible role of hyperandrogenism in the increased incidence of ovarian cancers in PCOS patients. 49,50 Additional information can be gained with more microscale experimentation of ovarian hyperandrogenism in a physiologic dynamic culture system such as LATTICE.…”

Differential Protein Mapping of Ovarian Serous Adenocarcinomas: Identification of Potential Markers for Distinct Tumor Stage

“…In particular, it is believed that the low grade OSCs likely arise from serous borderline tumors, while high grade OSCs likely arise de novo [10]. Low grade OSCs are typically more indolent than the high grade neoplasms [11, 12], [13], whereas clinically aggressive high-grade neoplasms spread rapidly and are usually associated with poor outcomes. Molecular studies of OSCs show very distinct genetic alterations between low and high grade neoplasms, with the low grade/well differentiated ones having frequent K-Ras and/or B-Raf mutations in approximately 65% of the tumors and rarely showing p53 mutations, while high grade OSCs show p53 mutations in 50-80% of the cases [14].…”