Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2013 Oct;131(1):42-5.
doi: 10.1016/j.ygyno.2013.06.034. Epub 2013 Jul 6.

Carcinosarcoma of the ovary: natural history, patterns of treatment, and outcome

Erin M George  1 , Thomas J Herzog, Alfred I Neugut, Yu-Shiang Lu, William M Burke, Sharyn N Lewin, Dawn L Hershman, Jason D Wright
Affiliations

Carcinosarcoma of the ovary: natural history, patterns of treatment, and outcome

Erin M George et al. Gynecol Oncol. 2013 Oct.

Abstract

Objective: Ovarian carcinosarcomas (OCS) are rare tumors composed of both malignant epithelial and mesenchymal elements. We compared the natural history and outcomes of OCS to serous carcinoma of the ovary.

Methods: Patients with OCS and serous carcinomas registered in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database between 1988 and 2007 were analyzed. Demographic and clinical characteristics were compared using chi square tests while survival was analyzed using Cox proportional hazards models and the Kaplan-Meier method.

Results: A total of 27,737 women, including 1763 (6.4%) with OCS and 25,974 (93.6%) with serous carcinomas, were identified. Patients with carcinosarcomas tended to be older and have unstaged tumors (P<0.0001). After adjusting for other prognostic factors, women with carcinosarcomas were 72% more likely to die from their tumors (HR=1.72; 95% CI, 1.52-1.96). Five-year survival for stage I carcinosarcomas was 65.2% (95% CI, 58.0-71.4%) vs. 80.6% (95% CI, 78.9-82.2%) for serous tumors. Similarly, five-year survival for stage IIIC patients was 18.2% (95% CI, 14.5-22.4%) for carcinosarcomas compared to 33.3% (95% 32.1-34.5%) for serous carcinomas.

Conclusions: Ovarian carcinosarcomas are aggressive tumors with a natural history that is distinct from serous cancers. The survival for both early and late stage carcinosarcoma is inferior to serous tumors.

Keywords: Cancer; Carcinosarcoma; Mixed mullerian tumor; Ovarian cancer; Ovarian carcinoma; Surgery.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Kaplan-Meier analysis of cancer-specific survival for women stratified by stage. A. Stage I (P<0.0001). B. Stage III (P<0.0001). Solid line carcinosarcoma, dashed line serous carcinoma.
Figure 1
Figure 1
Kaplan-Meier analysis of cancer-specific survival for women stratified by stage. A. Stage I (P<0.0001). B. Stage III (P<0.0001). Solid line carcinosarcoma, dashed line serous carcinoma.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Siegel R, Naishadham D, Jemal A. Cancer statistics, 2012. CA Cancer J Clin. 2012;62(1):10–29. Epub 2012/01/13. - PubMed
    1. del Carmen MG, Birrer M, Schorge JO. Carcinosarcoma of the ovary: a review of the literature. Gynecol Oncol. 2012;125(1):271–7. Epub 2011/12/14. - PubMed
    1. Mano MS, Rosa DD, Azambuja E, Ismael G, Braga S, D'Hondt V, et al. Current management of ovarian carcinosarcoma. Int J Gynecol Cancer. 2007;17(2):316–24. Epub 2007/03/17. - PubMed
    1. Harris MA, Delap LM, Sengupta PS, Wilkinson PM, Welch RS, Swindell R, et al. Carcinosarcoma of the ovary. Br J Cancer. 2003;88(5):654–7. Epub 2003/03/06. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Barnholtz-Sloan JS, Morris R, Malone JM, Jr., Munkarah AR. Survival of women diagnosed with malignant, mixed mullerian tumors of the ovary (OMMMT) Gynecol Oncol. 2004;93(2):506–12. Epub 2004/04/22. - PubMed

Publication types