Ovarian cancers in the young.Epidemiologic observations

Study was made of U.S. mortality rates for ovarian cancers among girls aged 0-19 years, 1950-1968, and of 59 hospital records for children with these neoplasms. The death rates showed no significant changes over the 18-year period. Ovarian cancer mortality was low in young children, and the increase during adolescence and early adulthood was greater among non-whites. Most tumors in the young were of the germ-cell type (teratocarcinoma, dysgerminoma, and embryonal carcinoma) in contrast to a predominance of cystadenocarcinomas in the elderly. Gonadal dysgenesis was the only congenital defect associated with ovarian neoplasia. No evidence was found for the etiologic role of environmental agents, but more detailed investigations are needed.