We conducted a retrospective study on the prevalence of high grade serous carcinoma and STIC in BRCA1/2 carriers presenting for RRSO, and their follow-up.
A BRCA1 mutation carrier (patient A) who presented with a STIC and tubal intraluminal shedding of tumor cells upon prophylactic bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy (PBSO) instigated scrutiny of an additional 23 women who underwent a PBSO and 40 patients with pelvic serous carcinoma involving the tubes.
Serous tubal intraepithelial carcinoma (STIC) is detected in between 5% and 7% of women undergoing risk-reduction salpingooophorectomy for mutations in the BRCA1 or 2 genes (BRCA+), and seems to play a role in the pathogenesis of many ovarian and "primary peritoneal" serous carcinomas.
Recently, studies of women with BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations (BRCA+) undergoing risk reducing salpingo-oophorectomy have highlighted the distal fallopian tube as a common (80%) site of tumor origin and additional studies of unselected women with pelvic serous carcinoma have demonstrated that serous tubal intraepithelial carcinoma may precede a significant percentage of these tumors.