title: Ovarian preservation during the surgical treatment of early stage endometrial cancer: a nation-wide study conducted by the Korean Gynecologic Oncology Group.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The objective of this study was to determine whether ovarian preservation is feasible in younger endometrial cancer patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Endometrial cancer patients who underwent ovary-saving surgery were recruited from the tumor registries of 14 tertiary hospitals under the influence of the Korean Gynecologic Oncology Group (KGOG). Information regarding patient age, preoperative and intraoperative evaluations, pathologic reports, and follow-up results was abstracted from medical records.
  
  
  RESULTS
  One hundred and seventy five patients were eligible for this study. Mean patient age at the time of surgery was 38.5+/-8.3 years (range 25-57). Ovary-preserving surgery was performed in 101 (57.7%) patients who desired to preserve their ovaries, incidentally in 69 (39.4%) patients with preoperative diagnoses other than endometrial carcinoma, and in 5 patients (2.9%) with unknown reasons. Median duration of follow-up was 55.0 months (range 6.2-180.0 months). Recurrence free survival and overall survival rates were 94.3 and 93.3%, respectively. Seven of the 175 (4.0%) patients had documented recurrence, and no recurrences were observed in stage I patients with endometrioid histology. All 7 recurrences had risk factors that could have reasonably explained recurrence, namely, non-endometrioid histology (4/7), deep myometrial invasion (5/7), cervical stromal invasion (4/7), and inadequate adjuvant treatment (4/7). No metachronous ovarian malignancy occurred during follow-up. Ten (5.8%) deaths occurred during follow-up; five resulted from disease recurrence, and 5 from non-disease related causes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings suggest that ovarian preservation does not adversely impact the recurrence of early stage endometrial cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Seoul Metropolitan Boramae Hospital, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Taek Sang
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Seoul National University Hospital, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: kjwksh@snu.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Jae Weon
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Cheil General Hospital, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Tae Jin
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Keimyung University Dongsan Medical Center, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Chi Heum
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Korea Cancer Center Hospital, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Sang Young
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Ryu
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ajou University Hospital, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Hee-Sug
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Ryu
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Samsung Seoul Hospital, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Byoung Gie
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Keun Ho
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Asan Medical Center, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Yong Man
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Seoul National University Hospital, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Soon-Beom
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Kang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D016889:Endometrial Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D013509:Gynecologic Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010053:Ovary / Q000601:surgery*