Endometriosis and gynaecological cancers: molecular insights behind a complex machinery

Endometriosis is described as the presence of both endometrial glandular and stromal cells outside the uterine cavity. A major characterization of this disease is ectopic implantation of endometrial cells with in- creased migration. It is one of the leading causes of morbidity among premenopausal women, with a preva- lence of 10–16% of women of reproductive age. Despite over century of intensive research, none of the current treatment options represents a real cure. Based on the current knowledge, endometriosis, particularly its atypi- cal version, is considered to be a transitional form from benign disease to tumour. However, the exact mecha- nisms of this conversion are still not fully established.