title: Impact of pattern of recurrence on clinical outcome of ovarian cancer patients: clinical considerations.
abstract: Recurrence of disease represents a clinical challenge in ovarian cancer patients. The aim of this study was to analyse the distribution and pattern of recurrence and their association with clinical outcome in a large series of ovarian cancer patients. This study was conducted on 328 primary untreated ovarian cancer patients. For each relapse, information on date of clinical/instrumental recurrence, and pattern of disease presentation were retrieved. In stage III-IV cases (n = 270), diffuse abdominal carcinomatosis occurred in 62.1% of cases, while recurrences presented as a single lesion or multiple nodules occurred in 9.9% and 26.7% of cases, respectively. Pattern of recurrence as carcinomatosis was shown to be associated with unfavourable outcome even when stratified according to platinum free interval (PFI) duration. In multivariate analysis, pattern of recurrence and PFI duration retained an independent prognostic role for post-relapse survival. Duration of PFI and type of recurrence may independently influence post-relapse survival in ovarian cancer patients.
authors.affiliation: Gynaecologic Oncology Unit, Catholic University of Rome, L.go A. Gemelli 8, 00168 Rome, Italy. gabriella.ferrandina@libero.it
authors.forename: Gabriella
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ferrandina
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Legge
authors.forename: Vanda
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Salutari
authors.forename: Amelia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Paglia
authors.forename: Antonia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Testa
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Scambia
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome