Unsuspected Genital Tract Malignancy Discovered During or After Gynecologic Surgery

Preoperative counseling is a fundamental process in surgical practice. Although uncommon, discordancebetween preoperative and postoperative diagnoses has been observed in surgical practice. This would be a majorconcern if a serious condition such as malignant disease is noted incidentally. Encountering unexpected cancersduring or after an operation may result in suboptimal treatment performed because of the potential of failureto follow standard treatment guidelines for such cancer. In addition, failing to prepare patients for a possibilityof unsuspected cancer is an extremely difficult situation and may complicate the relationship with the surgeon.This article focused on the incidence and major causes of unsuspected genital tract malignancies found duringor after gynecologic surgery.