BOTs

ecancer 2013, 7:379 DOI: 10.3332/ecancer.2013.379

Epithelial tumours of the ovary can be either benign (cystadenomas) or malignant (cystadenocarcinomas). However, there is an intermediate state of epithelial tumours of the ovary called ‘borderline tumours’. Neither the oncological behaviour of this intermediate group of tumours nor the histological changes of the cells of the ovarian epithelium meet the specific criteria of benignity or malignancy. In 1973, the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) gave this group of ovarian tumours a ‘low malignant potential’ [1], and since then, the World Health Organization (WHO) has called them borderline ovarian tumours (BOTs) [2].