title: Primary ovarian cancer at National Taiwan University Hospital: 1980-1989.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Ovarian cancer is a silent killer. Most of the patients came with advanced stages. The retrospective review here was for a better understanding of the current situation of ovarian cancer patients treated at National Taiwan University Hospital.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred and eighty-seven patients with primary ovarian cancer were treated at National Taiwan University Hospital from 1980 to 1989. Medical records were reviewed thoroughly. The WHO histological classification and FIGO staging system (1987) were used.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The ages at diagnosis ranged from 2 to 87 years. Peak incidence was noted between 50-59 years. According to the WHO histological classification, the distribution of histological types included 79.1% epithelial, 4.3% sex-cord stromal tumors, 0.5% lipid cell, 12.8% germ cell, and 3.2% non-specific soft tissue origin. Based on FIGO staging system, 31.6% of the patients were in stage I, 11.2% in stage II, 40.6% in stage III and 16.6% in stage IV. Mean ages for common epithelial, non-epithelial, and germ cell ovarian cancers were 49, 26, 23 years, respectively. Cytoreductive surgery was done in 47.4% of stage I, 23.8% of stage II, 15.8% of stage III, and 12.9% of stage IV. The leading treatment modality was surgery plus chemotherapy, which was performed in 50.3% of whole series. Survival in patients with ovarian cancer is a function of clinical stage and histologic type. The 5-year observed survival rates for stage I to IV were 76.3%, 59.9%, 9.1%, and 4.3% respectively. The 5-year survival rate was 29.4% for epithelial ovarian cancer, 51.4% for non-epithelial ovarian cancer, and 64.5% for germ cell tumors.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The prognosis and survival rate are still unsatisfactory despite the various modalities of treatment. Further improvements need the development of methods for early detection and multiple modalities of therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, ROC.
authors.forename: C K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: S N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Chow
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Y P
authors.initials: YP
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: L C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: L I
authors.initials: LI
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Y H
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate; D013624:Taiwan