Ovarian cysts and tumours in children and adolescents

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.