Are There Racial Differences in Germ Cell and Sex Cord Stromal Ovarian Tumors?
Posted: Tuesday, November 24, 2020
Black women may be more likely to be diagnosed with sex cord stromal tumors of the ovaries as compared with White and Asian women, and both Black and Asian women may be more likely to have germ cell tumors in comparison with White women. John K. Chan, MD, of California Pacific Medical Center, and colleagues published these results during the virtual edition of the 2020 International Gynecologic Cancer Society (IGCS) Annual Global Meeting (Abstract 1041).
This study utilized data from both the U.S. Cancer Statistics database and the National Cancer Database between the years 2004 and 2016. A total of 8,917 women were identified with either sex cord stromal tumors or germ cell tumors. Researchers utilized chi-square testing to assess for statistical significance of their findings.
Among the identified cohort, 48.2% had been diagnosed with sex cord stromal tumors and 52.5%, with germ cell ovarian cancer. The age-adjusted incidence of sex cord stromal tumors was 0.5 per 100,000 Black women, 0.23 per 100,000 White women, and 0.14 per 100,000 Asian women within the study time range. In support of these findings, the data from the National Cancer Database indicated the proportion of sex cord stromal tumors was 5.6% among Black women, as compared with 1.5% in White women and 1.6% in Asian women. The most common sex cord stromal histology was granulosa cell carcinoma, present in 85% of tumors in Black women, 84% of tumors in White women, and 77.5% of tumors in Asian women.
The proportion of Black women diagnosed with germ cell tumors was 4.4%, compared with 2.0% in White women and 3.9% in Asian women. The most common germ cell histology varied among racial groups, with dysgerminoma predominating among White women (22.3%) and immature teratoma being more common in Black (28.0%) and Asian women (26.9%).
Disclosure: No disclosures for the study authors were provided.
