Table 1 |.

Characteristics of ovarian cancer by histology, genomic characteristics and active therapies

Histological subtype	Clinical findings	Genetic characteristics	Treatment options
High-grade serous carcinoma and high-grade endometrioid carcinoma	Can present with peritoneal carcinomatosis, ascites and/or pelvic mass Typically advanced stage at presentation	Deficiencies in homologous recombination (50% of tumours) Associated with BRCA and TP53 mutations	Platinum-based chemotherapy and poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitors Tumours are initially sensitive to platinum-based chemotherapy, but most patients with advanced-stage cancer will recur
Low-grade serous carcinoma	Presents in younger patients (median reported age: 43–55 years81) Can be early or late stage at presentation	Associated with KRAS and BRAF mutations Tumours have genomic stability	MEK inhibitors (currently being tested in clinical trials) and hormonal therapies
Low-grade endometrioid carcinoma	Can be associated with endometriosis	Associated with PTEN, ARID1A and PIK3CA mutations Can have microsatellite instability	Possible hormonal therapies (not yet established)
Clear-cell carcinoma	Can present with parenchymal metastases (in the liver and the lungs) Can be associated with hypercoagulability and hypercalcaemia	Associated with ARID1A and PIK3CA mutations	Immunotherapy agents Can be resistant to platinum-based chemotherapy
Mucinous carcinoma	Presents in younger patients and is typically early stage at presentation	Associated with KRAS mutations	Tends to be insensitive to chemotherapy but is still treated initially with cytotoxic chemotherapy