Does endometriosis really have premalignant potential? A clonal analysis of laser-microdissected tissue.

Since 1925, epidemiological and histological evidence for an association between endometriosis and ovarian neoplasia has accumulated. Recently, publications assaying the clonality of a given cell population have implied endometriosis has premalignant properties. However, the human androgen receptor used as a marker in these studies is of highly questionable reliability due to the instability of its methylation pattern in nonmalignant cells and during the course of malignancy.