Survival probability in ovarian clear cell adenocarcinoma.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to evaluate the 5-year survival probability (SP) of patients treated for ovarian clear cell adenocarcinoma (OCCA) at a single tertiary institution and to compare it to the 5-year SP of patients with other histologic subtypes of epithelial ovarian cancer.


METHODS
Sixty-four patients with pure OCCA treated at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation from 1981 to 1996 were retrospectively identified and clinical information was abstracted. All histologic materials were reviewed by a single gynecologic pathologist. SP was calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method. SPs for OCCA patients were compared to that of other high-grade epithelial ovarian cancer patients in the gynecologic tumor registry. Cox proportional hazards modeling was used to identify varibles associated with decreased SP.


RESULTS
The FIGO stages of OCCA study patients were Stage I, 31 (50%), Stage II, 6 (10%), Stage III, 17 (27%), and Stage IV, 8 (13%) (2 patients unstaged). Forty-four patients had no gross residual cancer at the completion of initial surgery while 9 patients had </=1 cm diameter residual and 10 had >1 cm residual. Forty-five (73%) received postoperative chemotherapy. The median follow-up for surviving patients is 97 months (range 38 to 209 months). The overall 5-year SP of OCCA patients is 50% with limited disease (Stages I and II) patients having a 5-year SP of 72% versus 17% 5-year SP in patients with advanced disease (P < 0.001). FIGO stage was most predictive of outcome. The overall 5-year SP of OCCA patients (50%) differed significantly (P < 0.05) from that of other ovarian cancer registry patients (30%). OCCA patients with limited cancer survived similarly to registry patients (72 vs 72%) as did patients with advanced OCCA compared with registry patients (17 vs 22%).


CONCLUSIONS
When controlled for grade and stage, the overall survival with OCCA is identical to that of other high-grade epithelial ovarian cancers. Factors that account for the better overall survival of OCCA patients are more favorable disease stage, younger age, and improved debulking status.
Kennedy
A W
AW
Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Cleveland Clinic Cancer Center, The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, 9500 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44195, USA.
Markman
M
M
Biscotti
C V
CV
Emery
J D
JD
Rybicki
L A
LA
D018262:Adenocarcinoma, Clear Cell / Q000401:mortality*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality*; D015996:Survival Rate