{"entity":{"id":"mucinous-ovarian-cancer","kind":"cancer","name":"Mucinous ovarian cancer","aka":["Mucinous ovarian carcinoma","MOC"],"tldr":"Mucinous ovarian cancer is rare, usually confined to one large ovary at diagnosis and cured by surgery. Its genetics resemble bowel cancer more than ovarian cancer, and pathologists must first rule out a spread from the gut before making the diagnosis.","summary":"Primary mucinous carcinoma of the ovary is uncommon and was historically over-diagnosed because metastases from the appendix, colon, stomach and pancreas mimic it. True primary tumours carry KRAS mutations in about two thirds and HER2 amplification in a fifth, share their biology with gastrointestinal cancers and often arise from a mucinous borderline tumour. Most are stage I and treated with surgery alone or with fertility-sparing unilateral oophorectomy; appendicectomy is performed if the appendix looks abnormal. Advanced disease responds poorly to carboplatin-paclitaxel, and gastrointestinal-type regimens such as capecitabine-oxaliplatin are used by extrapolation; HER2-directed therapy is an option in amplified tumours.","asOf":"2026-09-17","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ovarian_cancer","links":[{"label":"Wikipedia","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ovarian_cancer"}],"tags":["subtype-page"],"related":[],"cancers":[],"sections":[],"technologies":[],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"notes":[],"group":"gynaecological","burden":"About three percent of ovarian cancers once metastases from the bowel and appendix are excluded; most are large, unilateral stage I tumours that surgery cures, and the rare advanced cases respond poorly to standard ovarian regimens.","subtypes":["Expansile (confluent) pattern (better outlook)","Infiltrative pattern","HER2-amplified","Arising from mucinous borderline tumour or teratoma"],"biomarkers":["KRAS mutation","HER2 amplification (about 20 percent)","CK7 and CK20 pattern and SATB2 to exclude gastrointestinal origin","CEA and CA 19-9 rather than CA-125"],"standardOfCare":[{"setting":"Early stage","approach":"Unilateral salpingo-oophorectomy or hysterectomy with staging; appendicectomy if abnormal; chemotherapy usually omitted for stage IA and IB.","refs":["ovarian"]},{"setting":"Advanced or recurrent","approach":"Cytoreduction; carboplatin-paclitaxel or gastrointestinal-type capecitabine-oxaliplatin; trastuzumab for HER2-amplified tumours in trials.","refs":["capecitabine","oxaliplatin","trastuzumab","carboplatin"]},{"setting":"Young women with stage IA disease","approach":"Fertility-sparing unilateral salpingo-oophorectomy with staging and close follow-up.","refs":["ovarian"]}],"stateOfArt":["Strict pathology criteria have cut the diagnosis to its true rare frequency and improved apparent survival.","The GI-like biology is steering treatment toward bowel cancer regimens and HER2-directed therapy.","International rare-tumour trials (mEOC/GOG 241) showed how hard it is to recruit for this disease."],"history":[{"year":2003,"title":"Seidman shows most 'mucinous ovarian cancers' are metastases from the gut","refs":[]},{"year":2019,"title":"mEOC/GOG 241 randomised trial closes early for poor accrual","refs":[]},{"year":2020,"title":"WHO classification separates expansile from infiltrative mucinous carcinoma","refs":[]}],"pipeline":["trastuzumab-deruxtecan","her2"],"openProblems":["No proven chemotherapy for advanced disease.","Trials cannot recruit enough patients.","Distinguishing primary from metastatic disease still needs expert pathology."],"parent":"ovarian"},"route":"/cancers/mucinous-ovarian-cancer/","neighbours":{"drug":[{"id":"capecitabine","kind":"drug","name":"Capecitabine","route":"/drugs/capecitabine/"},{"id":"carboplatin","kind":"drug","name":"Carboplatin","route":"/drugs/carboplatin/"},{"id":"oxaliplatin","kind":"drug","name":"Oxaliplatin","route":"/drugs/oxaliplatin/"},{"id":"trastuzumab","kind":"drug","name":"Trastuzumab","route":"/drugs/trastuzumab/"},{"id":"trastuzumab-deruxtecan","kind":"drug","name":"Trastuzumab deruxtecan","route":"/drugs/trastuzumab-deruxtecan/"}],"target":[{"id":"her2","kind":"target","name":"HER2","route":"/targets/her2/"}],"cancer":[{"id":"ovarian","kind":"cancer","name":"Ovarian cancer","route":"/cancers/ovarian/"}]}}