Micropapillary Serous Carcinoma

Noninvasive micropapillary serous carcinoma of the ovary is also referred to as the micropapillary variant of serous borderline tumor and displays a characteristic pattern of papillary branching but lacks invasion. In contrast, invasive micropapillary serous carcinoma is the usual form of low-grade invasive serous carcinoma. There is a consensus that peritoneal “implants” associated with serous borderline tumors that display invasive features (“invasive implants”) have a poor prognosis with a 7-year survival of 66%, and can also be referred to as invasive carcinoma. Evidence indicates that noninvasive micropapillary serous carcinoma has a strong association with invasive implants as compared with typical serous borderline tumors (49% vs. 7%, respectively, P < 0.0001). After excluding micropapillary serous borderline tumors and those with invasive implants, the remaining patients with serous borderline tumors have a survival of virtually 100%, thereby obviating the need for the serous borderline category.