Issues

Ovarian high-grade serous carcinoma continues to evade early detection and prevention. Little is known about the early molecular events preceding ovarian cancer. Learning more about the origin of putative precancerous lesions such as serous tubal intraepithelial carcinoma (STIC) in the fallopian tube and their potential transition to invasive carcinoma is necessary to prevent the disease. These lesions could be a risk factor for ovarian cancer, a true precursor or an in-situ component of the carcinoma. The cover image shows a representative STIC at 20× magnification stained with the antibody against laminin C1 encoded by LAMC1 but not in the adjacent normal-appearing epithelium. As pictured, STICs are characterized by a combination of nuclear enlargement, loss of polarity, and nuclear atypia. The multicenter study conducted by Visvanathan et al. (see page 697) explored risk/protective factors associated with STICs and characterized the various lesions present in the fallopian tube of high-risk women.