title: Prognostic factors for overall survival in patients with advanced ovarian carcinoma.
abstract: Twenty-one pretreatment variables were investigated for prognostic influence on survival in 301 previously untreated patients with ovarian carcinoma, stage IIB-IV. Patients were randomized to sequential combination chemotherapy: cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, 5-fluorouracil, followed by cisplatin and hexamethylmelamine, or to the 3-drug combination alternating with the 2-drug combination every other month. Median overall survivals were 25 and 22 months, respectively, P greater than 0.4. Based on the results from a Cox multivariate stepwise analysis a subset of independent significant prognostic factors was found to include: residual tumor size, performance status, alkaline phosphatase, number of metastases, histological differentiation grade and type. A prognostic index was calculated for each patient and three prognostic categories of patients were determined. The 3-yr survival rates for patients with low-, intermediate-, and high-risk scores were 62, 31, and 7%, respectively. Multivariate analysis thus contributes further information about the disease, and a knowledge of the distribution of such factors across different trials is important when comparing treatment outcome.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Finsen Institute, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lund
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Williamson
mesh_terms: D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011897:Random Allocation; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D015996:Survival Rate