Clinicopathologic features of epithelial ovarian carcinoma in younger vs. older patients: analysis in Japanese women

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study was to clarify the clinical features of epithelial ovarian carcinoma (EOC) in younger vs. older patients in Japan.

Methods: We collected data on 1,562 patients with EOC treated at multiple institutions in the Tokai Ovarian Tumor Study Group, and analyzed them retrospectively. All patients were divided into 2 groups: group A (≤40 years old) and group B (>40 years old). The data were analyzed to evaluate prognostic factors and the distribution of features in each group. Patients were subjected to univariate and multivariate analyses to evaluate overall survival (OS).

Results: The median follow-up time was 45.1 months (range, 1 to 257 months). Patients in group A had a significantly higher rate of stage I disease (67.3% vs. 42.6%, respectively; p<0.001) and the mucinous type (36.7% vs. 13.5%, respectively; p<0.001) than those in group B. There was a significant difference of OS between the 2 groups (p=0.013). However, upon stratification according to the stage, there were no significant differences in the OS between the 2 groups (group A vs. B: stage I, p=0.533; stage II-IV, p=0.407). Multivariate analysis revealed that younger age was not an independent prognostic factor for OS.

Conclusion: On the basis of our data, younger patients had a different clinical profile than older patients, particularly regarding the stage of the disease and pathological distribution; however, they showed a similar long-term prognosis, even upon stratification according to the stage.

Keywords: Epithelial ovarian cancer; Histological type; Overall survival; Reproductive age; Stage.

Fig. 1

Kaplan-Meier estimated overall survival of stage I patients stratified by age. Blue line: group A (≤40 years), n=199. Yellow line: group B (>40 years), n=1,363. Five-year overall survival rates were 73.3% (group A) and 64.5% (group B).

Fig. 2

Kaplan-Meier estimated overall survival of stage I (A) and stage II-IV (B) patients according to the age groups. Five-year overall survival rates of group A and B were 90.6% and 87.5% in stage I patients, and 38.3% and 46.7% in stage II-IV patients.