Epithelial ovarian cancer presenting initially with extraabdominal or intrahepatic metastases: a preliminary report of 25 cases and literature review

Am J Clin Oncol. 2000 Aug;23(4):416-9. doi: 10.1097/00000421-200008000-00021.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical features of patients with epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) that are initially categorized as extraabdominal adenocarcinoma of unknown primary. Twenty-five patients with EOC, who were treated in the Cancer Hospital of Shanghai Medical University from January 1986 to December 1997, and manifesting as extraperitoneal or liver parenchyma metastases at the time of presentation without detectable ovarian tumors, were retrospectively studied. Sixteen patients (64%) were optimally surgical debulked. When compared with 52 other women with stage IV EOC, 20 patients who initially sought treatment for extraabdominal metastases experienced a better prognosis, with an estimated median survival of 24 months versus 10 months (p = 0.0427). The median survival was 30 months in patients with pleural effusion or supraclavicular lymph node metastases versus 19 months in those with spread to other sites (p = 0.0264). The prognosis of such cases, mainly for those with supraclavicular lymphadenopathy or malignant pleural effusion, is better than that for other stage IV EOC patients, probably because most of the patients who initially had distant metastases were generally in condition that permitted aggressive surgery or multicycle chemotherapy.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Adenocarcinoma / diagnosis
  • Adenocarcinoma / secondary
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • CA-125 Antigen / analysis
  • Carcinoma / diagnosis*
  • Carcinoma / secondary
  • Carcinoma / surgery
  • Diagnosis, Differential
  • Female
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Humans
  • Linear Models
  • Liver Neoplasms / secondary*
  • Lymphatic Metastasis / pathology*
  • Middle Aged
  • Neoadjuvant Therapy
  • Neoplasm Staging
  • Ovarian Neoplasms / diagnosis*
  • Ovarian Neoplasms / surgery
  • Pleural Effusion, Malignant / diagnosis
  • Prognosis
  • Remission Induction
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Survival Rate

Substances

  • CA-125 Antigen