Purpose: Proper staging is warranted in any patient with primary epithelial ovarian carcinoma (PEOC), but sometimes it cannot always be performed. The prognosis of patients with and without complete staging surgery is to be determined.
Methods: We retrospectively evaluated 61 patients with presumed Stage IA PEOC between January 1970 and December 1993. Inclusion criteria were: being referred patients; no ascites; an intact ovarian tumor without extra-spillage or rupture before, during or after operation; conventional regular exploratory laparotomy without urgency; more than a 5-year follow-up, except for recurrent diseases; a detailed pathology review; and no other systemic disease. Tumors of lower malignant potential (LMP) and cystectomy for removing tumor were excluded. Of the 61 patients, 17 patients received a close observation (Group A), and the others (44 patients) received a re-exploratory laparotomy to complete the staging surgery (Group B).
Results: The mean follow-up time was 7.4 years, ranging between 5.4 and 11.1 years, in Group A, and 8.1 years, ranging from 5.6 to 12.7 years, in Group B. Two patients (11.8%) in Group A and seven patients (15.9%) in Group B suffered from recurrence. Two patients finally died of disease, and both were in Group B.
Conclusions: Based on the observation in this study that the recurrence rate of the two groups was not statistically different, close follow-up for patients with presumed Stage IA EOC, but without complete surgical staging surgery, might be acceptable when these patients are treated with postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy.