[Medical Q&A] Is ovarian borderline tumor a tumor between the ovary and surrounding organs?

Planner: Chinese Medical Association

Reviewer: Chen Juan, Chief Physician, Peking Union Medical College Hospital

Ovarian borderline tumor is a tumor that originates from the ovary itself, not a tumor that grows between the ovary and surrounding organs. The so-called "borderline" refers to the area between benign tumors and malignant tumors.

Ovarian borderline tumors have a certain degree of heterogeneity, but do not have obvious invasiveness or metastatic ability, which means that they usually do not spread to distant organs like malignant tumors, but are not completely harmless like benign tumors. Although there are abnormalities in cell morphology and structure, the tumor cells grow slowly, relapse late, and have a better prognosis. Common types of ovarian borderline tumors are serous borderline tumors and mucinous borderline tumors. Regardless of the type of borderline tumor, it usually does not invade the surrounding stroma, which is an important feature to distinguish it from malignant tumors. Most patients have no obvious symptoms in the early stage, and are usually found during routine physical examinations or imaging examinations for other reasons. Some patients will have lower abdominal discomfort or distension. Larger tumors can feel lumps in the abdomen. A few patients may have irregular menstruation or abnormal bleeding. The diagnosis of ovarian borderline tumors relies on imaging examinations, laboratory tests, pathological examinations, etc. The preferred treatment is surgical treatment, and the prognosis is usually good, especially for patients with early detection and early treatment, with a 5-year survival rate of more than 90%. Because the disease has a tendency to recur in the long term, the risk of recurrence increases with the stage, and long-term follow-up is required after surgery. It should be emphasized again that borderline tumors are tumors between benign and malignant, and are not the intermediate stage of transformation from benign tumors to malignant tumors.