Abstract:
Ovarian masses are an uncommon finding in children and
adolescents with an incidence of around 2.6/100000 per year
excluding functional ovarian lesions of which the true incidence
is unknown.1,2 While ovarian tumours account for less than 1%
of all cancers in children, the likelihood of malignancy found
in ovarian masses in children and adolescents ranges from 9%
-11%.(1,3) The most common ovarian masses identified in this age
range are listed in Table 1. Up to 64% are neoplastic of which
the large majority are germ cell tumours (GCT) (60-80%). Sex
cord stromal cell tumours and surface epithelial tumours account
for 5% and <20% respectively unlike in adult ovarian tumours
where surface epithelial tumours predominate.
