Age and Oogenesis At puberty, each ovary contains about 200,000 primordial follicles.

Forty years later, few if any follicles remain, although only about 500 will have been ovulated during the interim. A woman in the United States has a 1 in 70 chance of developing ovarian cancer in her lifetime. In 2002, an estimated 23,300 ovarian cancers were diagnosed, and 13,900 women died from this condition. Although ovarian cancer is the third most common reproductive cancer among women, it is the most dangerous because it is seldom diagnosed in its early stages. The prognosis is relatively good for cancers that originate in the general ovarian tissues or from abnormal oocytes. These cancers respond well to some combination of chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery. However, 85 percent of ovarian cancers develop from epithelial cells, and sustained remission can be obtained in only about onethird of the cases of this type. The Uterine Tubes ( Fallopian tube or oviduct ) is a hollow, muscular tube measuring roughly 13 cm (5 in.) in length. Each tube has 3 segments: The Infundibulum. The end closest to the ovary forms an expanded funnel, or infundibulum , with numerous fingerlike projections that extend into the pelvic cavity. The projections are called fimbriae. The inner surfaces of the infundibulum are lined with cilia that beat toward the middle segment of the uterine tube, called the ampulla . The Ampulla. The thickness of the smooth muscle layers in the wall of the middle segment, or ampulla , of the uterine tube gradually increases as the tube approaches the uterus. The Isthmus. The ampulla leads to the isthmus, a short segment connected to the uterine wall.