New Horizons in the Etiopathogenesis and Non-Invasive Diagnosis of Endometriosis

Endometriosis is one of the most common gynecological inflammatory diseases, occurring in adolescents and women in the reproductive age group and leading to infertility. The precise etiopathogenesis of endometriosis is unknown, but several theories concerning the phenomena involved in its development have been proposed. Beside classic retrograde menstruation, these include lymphatic and vascular metastases, iatrogenic direct implantation, coelomic metaplasia, embryonic remnants and mesenchymal cell differentiation or induction; the persistence of a form of embryonic endometriosis may also be involved, as well as the theory of the possible role of endometrial stem/progenitor cells. This paper deals with other risk factors which may be potentially involved in the etiopathogenesis of endometriosis, including the immune, inflammatory, endocrine, genetic, anatomical and environmental factors. At present, endometriosis can only be diagnosed with surgery, where laparoscopy is considered a gold standard. Therefore, there is an urgent need for a test allowing to detect non-invasive molecular biomarkers to identify the symptoms of endometriosis early on in disease development. A thorough understanding of the etiopathogenesis of endometriosis is essential toward the development of novel diagnostic assays and effective treatments of the disease.