Early stage primary ovarian mucinous carcinoma: Outcome-based clinicopathological study in comparison with serous carcinoma

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 A major concern associated with ovarian mucinous carcinoma is the fact that metastatic carcinoma is much more common than primary tumours.⁶ Metastatic ovarian mucinous carcinomas may originate from the colorectal region, pancreas, biliary tract, appendix, stomach, uterine cervix or other primary sites.⁷ The prognosis is substantially different between metastatic and primary ovarian mucinous carcinoma,⁷ so the differential diagnosis between these carcinomas becomes a critical issue. Under most circumstances, this distinction can be attained via a combined analysis of pathological and clinical features, but it may be problematic if the extraovarian primary carcinoma is inconspicuous. Consequently, a considerable proportion of ovarian metastatic mucinous carcinomas are misdiagnosed as primary tumours.⁷

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