# Mucinous ovarian cancer

Source: https://onco.cc/cancers/mucinous-ovarian-cancer/  
OnCo record `mucinous-ovarian-cancer` (Cancer). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

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.

## Fields

- Kind: Cancer
- Last checked: 2026-09-17
- Also known as: Mucinous ovarian carcinoma; MOC
- Tags: subtype-page
- Group: gynaecologic
- 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

## Sections of this record

The page is a hub with ten sections in reading order; large sections have their own page. The same plan as JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/cancers/mucinous-ovarian-cancer/sections.json

- Overview (on the hub): The TL;DR, the family this cancer belongs to, the organ, who gets it and what the state of the art is. https://onco.cc/cancers/mucinous-ovarian-cancer/#overview [3 state-of-the-art points]
- Types and stages (on the hub): Anatomy, the subtypes and how they differ, how it is staged, and where advanced disease spreads. https://onco.cc/cancers/mucinous-ovarian-cancer/#what-it-is [4 subtypes]
- Symptoms and diagnosis (on the hub): How this cancer shows itself, how the diagnosis is confirmed, and the biomarkers clinicians test for. https://onco.cc/cancers/mucinous-ovarian-cancer/#finding-it [4 biomarkers]
- Treatment (on the hub): The standard of care by setting, the medicines, surgery and radiotherapy named in it, and the regimens behind them. https://onco.cc/cancers/mucinous-ovarian-cancer/#treating-it [3 settings, 1 decision with options]
- Trials and papers (on the hub): Trials recruiting now, the landmark trials, the trials held by this cancer's subtypes, the key papers and what they mean, the latest literature, and the milestones year by year. https://onco.cc/cancers/mucinous-ovarian-cancer/#evidence [2 key papers, 3 milestones]
- Biology and targets (on the hub): The molecular landscape: the targets and how often each appears, the pathways, the mechanics stages and the preclinical models. https://onco.cc/cancers/mucinous-ovarian-cancer/#science [1 target]
- Countries and centres (own page): Cases by country, the UK and NHS pathway and other country lenses, the expert centres with trials on record, and the centres named on this cancer's subtypes. https://onco.cc/cancers/mucinous-ovarian-cancer/where-you-are/
- Decisions and support (on the hub): The decisions you may face, the aids that walk through them, the warnings on record, the first sixty days and the questions to ask. https://onco.cc/cancers/mucinous-ovarian-cancer/#living-with-it [13 questions, 6 red cards]
- Pipeline and open problems (own page): Everything in development, the medicines held by this cancer's subtypes, the open problems and what is being done about them, the roadmaps, and what changed on this record. https://onco.cc/cancers/mucinous-ovarian-cancer/coming/ [5 medicines, 3 open problems]
- Data (own page): Every connected record, the notes, the JSON, Markdown and RDF twins, and where the record came from and when it was checked. https://onco.cc/cancers/mucinous-ovarian-cancer/data/ [20 connected records]

## Standard of care

- Early stage: Unilateral salpingo-oophorectomy or hysterectomy with staging; appendicectomy if abnormal; chemotherapy usually omitted for stage IA and IB. ([Ovarian cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/ovarian/))
- Advanced or recurrent: Cytoreduction; carboplatin-paclitaxel or gastrointestinal-type capecitabine-oxaliplatin; trastuzumab for HER2-amplified tumours in trials. ([Capecitabine](https://onco.cc/drugs/capecitabine/), [Oxaliplatin](https://onco.cc/drugs/oxaliplatin/), [Trastuzumab](https://onco.cc/drugs/trastuzumab/), [Carboplatin](https://onco.cc/drugs/carboplatin/))
- Young women with stage IA disease: Fertility-sparing unilateral salpingo-oophorectomy with staging and close follow-up. ([Ovarian cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/ovarian/))

## State of the art

- 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.

## Open problems

- No proven chemotherapy for advanced disease.
- Trials cannot recruit enough patients.
- Distinguishing primary from metastatic disease still needs expert pathology.

## Sources

- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ovarian_cancer
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ovarian_cancer

## Connected records

- cancers: [Adult granulosa cell tumour of the ovary](https://onco.cc/cancers/granulosa-cell-tumour/), [Clear cell ovarian cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/clear-cell-ovarian-cancer/), [High-grade serous ovarian cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/high-grade-serous-ovarian-cancer/), [Low-grade serous ovarian cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/low-grade-serous-ovarian-cancer/), [Mucinous cystic neoplasm of the pancreas with associated invasive carcinoma (MCN-associated carcinoma)](https://onco.cc/cancers/mcn-associated-carcinoma/), [Ovarian cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/ovarian/), [Platinum-resistant ovarian cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/platinum-resistant-ovarian-cancer/)
- key papers: [Mucinous ovarian carcinoma (review)](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-morice-mucinous-ovarian-carcinoma-nejm-2019/), [The molecular origin and taxonomy of mucinous ovarian carcinoma](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-cheasley-mucinous-ovarian-genomics-nat-commun-2019/)
- drugs: [Capecitabine](https://onco.cc/drugs/capecitabine/), [Carboplatin](https://onco.cc/drugs/carboplatin/), [Oxaliplatin](https://onco.cc/drugs/oxaliplatin/), [Trastuzumab](https://onco.cc/drugs/trastuzumab/), [Trastuzumab deruxtecan](https://onco.cc/drugs/trastuzumab-deruxtecan/)
- targets: [HER2](https://onco.cc/targets/her2/)

---
JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/mucinous-ovarian-cancer.json