The inherited genetics of ovarian and endometrial cancer

Endometrial and epithelial ovarian cancers are the fourth and fifth most common cancers in women in developed countries, after breast, lung, and colorectal cancer. In the United States alone, in 2008 there were about 40 000 new diagnoses of endometrial cancer and 7500 disease-related deaths. For ovarian cancer, there were about 22 000 new diagnoses and 15 000 deaths over the same period. The purpose of this article is to review the recent developments in the inherited genetics of ovarian and endometrial cancer, with particular attention to recent progress in identifying common low-penetrance susceptibility genes and their clinical implications.