Population-Based Analysis of Fallopian Tube Carcinoma Rates
Posted: Friday, April 6, 2018
A population-based analysis of incidence and survival data published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute has revealed a higher reported rate of fallopian tube carcinoma in situ (CIS) and tubal carcinomas in recent years. The findings likely reflect changes in diagnostic pathology practice and increased recognition of tubal neoplasms, according to Britton Trabert, PhD, MS, of the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, and colleagues.
They emphasized that the understanding of the pathogenesis of gynecologic carcinomas has shifted dramatically, as many high-grade cancers once considered ovarian primary tumors are now increasingly believed to develop as a serous tubal intraepithelial carcinoma (STIC), a type of fallopian tube lesion.
Researchers analyzed the incidence and survival data for fallopian tube CIS (an “imperfect surrogate” of STIC), tubal carcinomas, and ovarian carcinomas from 30 North American Association of Central Cancer Registries from 1999 to 2012. The rate of fallopian tube CIS was stable from 1999 to 2002 and subsequently increased, with an annual percentage change of 16.2% from 2002 to 2012. The rates of early- and late-stage tubal carcinomas revealed a similar pattern, whereas ovarian carcinoma rates remained stable.
“It will be important to develop standardized reporting for tubal neoplasms for cancer surveillance of these highly aggressive cancers,” Dr. Trabert and colleagues concluded.
