Ten-Year Study of Survival Rates for Ovarian Cancer

ORLANDO--In a retrospective review of ovarian cancer patients treated at Memorial Sloan-Kettering, positive findings from second-look surgery in stage I patients were so rare that the researchers no longer perform such surgery in these patients, Stephen C. Rubin, MD, told the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists.

The study found that few patients who are free of disease for 5 years after negative second-look surgery will relapse between the 5th and 10th year of follow-up.

Dr. Rubin, of the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center, and his colleagues from Penn and Sloan-Kettering, reviewed the records of 1,073 ovarian cancer patients treated from 1978 to 1987. Of that group, 91 were identified as having had a surgically documented complete response to platinum-based therapy and no evidence of disease at second-look laparotomy.

In this group, stage, histologic grade, and residual tumor were significantly related to both recurrence-free and overall survival at 10 years, Dr. Rubin said. In stage I patients, overall 10-year survival was 90%; for stage II, the figure was 72%; and for stage III-IV, 40%.