Reproductive Medicine Review

Table of Contents - 2002 - Volume 10, Issue 02  


Malignancies of the female genital tract in childhood and adolescence

E Brockbank a1c1 and T Ind a1
a1 Gynaecological Cancer Centre, Royal Marsden Hospital, London, UK

Abstract

Malignant tumours of the female reproductive tract in childhood and adolescence are rare. The comparative frequencies of tumours in adults and children may be related to the relative accumulation of exposure to environmental factors. An example might be the relationship between exposure to human papillomavirus and the development of vulval, vaginal and cervical cancers. Some cancers in childhood are associated with factors specific to the time of life. Examples include in-utero stilboestrol exposure related to clear cell carcinoma and teenage pregnancy associated with gestational trophoblastic tumours. In childhood and adolescence, 67% of all ovarian tumours are germ cell in origin. This differs significantly to the distribution of ovarian tumours in adults.


Correspondence:
c1 Address for correspondence: Elly Brockbank, Gynaecology Research Fellow, Department of Gynaecology, Mulberry House, Royal Marsden Hospital, Fulham Road, SW3 6JJ, UK; Tel.: +44-20 7808 2335; e-mail: elly.brockbank@virgin.net.