Stages III and IV invasive epithelial ovarian carcinoma in younger versus older women: what prognostic factors are important?
OBJECTIVE; To compare the survival rates in younger (45 years or younger) and older women (over 45) diagnosed with advanced-stage invasive epithelial ovarian cancer. Clinical and pathologic factors responsible for survival differences between the two groups were also determined.


METHODS
All younger women with advanced-stage epithelial ovarian carcinoma diagnosed between 1984 and 2001 were identified from tumor registry databases at two hospitals. Patients with borderline tumors were excluded. An older group of comparable controls was selected for comparison. Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional hazards analyses were used to determine the predictors for survival.


RESULTS
Of 104 women with advanced-stage epithelial ovarian carcinoma, 52 were 45 or younger and the rest were over 45. The 5-year survival rate and median survival in younger patients were 48% and 54 months, compared with 22% and 34 months in the older women (P =.003). Younger women had significantly better performance status than older patients, and survival remained significantly better in younger women based on Kaplan-Meier analysis stratified by performance status (0 versus 1 to 2, P =.02). Furthermore, overall survival was significantly better in younger women after stratification by stage (III versus IV, P =.002) and by cytoreductive surgery (optimal versus suboptimal, P =.003). Multivariable analysis demonstrated that all these factors remained as significant independent prognostic factors for survival.


CONCLUSIONS
Younger women with advanced-stage invasive epithelial ovarian cancer have significantly improved survival rates relative to older patients. Age, performance status, stage of disease, and extent of cytoreductive surgery are important independent prognostic factors for survival.
Chan
John K
JK
Division of Gynecologic Oncology, Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California, Orange, California, USA.
Loizzi
Vera
V
Lin
Yvonne G
YG
Osann
Kathryn
K
Brewster
Wendy R
WR
DiSaia
Philip J
PJ
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D002423:Cause of Death; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness / Q000473:pathology*; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009375:Neoplasms, Glandular and Epithelial / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy; D011336:Probability; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012042:Registries; D018570:Risk Assessment; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D016019:Survival Analysis