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. 2015 Aug;138(2):421-8.
doi: 10.1016/j.ygyno.2015.06.005. Epub 2015 Jun 5.

Long-term mortality among women with epithelial ovarian cancer

Helen E Dinkelspiel  1 , Miriam Champer  1 , June Hou  2 , Ana Tergas  2 , William M Burke  1 , Yongmei Huang  1 , Alfred I Neugut  3 , Cande V Ananth  4 , Dawn L Hershman  3 , Jason D Wright  5
Affiliations

Long-term mortality among women with epithelial ovarian cancer

Helen E Dinkelspiel et al. Gynecol Oncol. 2015 Aug.

Abstract

Objectives: Patients with solid tumors are at greatest risk for dying from their cancers in the five years following diagnosis. For most malignancies, deaths from other chronic diseases begin to exceed those from cancer at some point. As little is known about the causes of death among long-term survivors of ovarian cancer, we examined causes of death by years from diagnosis.

Methods: The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database was used to identify women diagnosed with ovarian cancer between 1988 and 2012. We compared causes of death by stage, age, and interval time after diagnosis.

Results: A total of 67,385 women were identified. For stage I neoplasms, 13.6% (CI, 13.0-14.2%) died from ovarian cancer, 4.2% (CI, 3.8-4.5%) from cardiovascular disease, 3.6% (CI, 3.3-3.9%) from other causes and 2.6% (CI, 2.4-2.9%) from other tumors; ovarian cancer was the leading cause of death until 7 years after diagnosis after which time deaths are more frequently due to other causes. For those with stage III-IV tumors, 67.8% (CI, 67.3-68.2%) died from ovarian cancer, 2.8% (CI, 2.6-2.9%) from other causes, 2.3% (CI, 2.2-2.4%) from cardiovascular disease and 1.9% (CI, 1.7-2.0%) from other cancers; ovarian cancer was the most frequent cause of death in years 1-15 after which time deaths were more commonly due to other causes.

Conclusions: The probability of dying from ovarian cancer decreases with time. Ovarian cancer remains the most common cause of death for 15 years after diagnosis in women with stage III-IV tumors.

Keywords: Cytoreduction; Debulking; Ovarian cancer; Surveillance; Survival.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
A. Cumulative frequency of death from ovarian cancer and other causes among patients with stage I tumors. 1B. Cumulative frequency of death from ovarian cancer and other causes mong patients with stage II tumors. 1C. Cumulative frequency of death from ovarian cancer and other causes among patients with stages III-IV tumors.
Figure 1
Figure 1
A. Cumulative frequency of death from ovarian cancer and other causes among patients with stage I tumors. 1B. Cumulative frequency of death from ovarian cancer and other causes mong patients with stage II tumors. 1C. Cumulative frequency of death from ovarian cancer and other causes among patients with stages III-IV tumors.
Figure 1
Figure 1
A. Cumulative frequency of death from ovarian cancer and other causes among patients with stage I tumors. 1B. Cumulative frequency of death from ovarian cancer and other causes mong patients with stage II tumors. 1C. Cumulative frequency of death from ovarian cancer and other causes among patients with stages III-IV tumors.
Figure 2
Figure 2
A. Annual frequency of death from ovarian cancer and other causes among patients with stage I tumors. 2B. Annual percentage of deaths from ovarian cancer and other causes among patients with stage I tumors.
Figure 2
Figure 2
A. Annual frequency of death from ovarian cancer and other causes among patients with stage I tumors. 2B. Annual percentage of deaths from ovarian cancer and other causes among patients with stage I tumors.
Figure 3
Figure 3
A. Annual frequency of death from ovarian cancer and other causes among patients with stage II tumors. 3B. Annual percentage of deaths from ovarian cancer and other causes among patients with stage II tumors.
Figure 3
Figure 3
A. Annual frequency of death from ovarian cancer and other causes among patients with stage II tumors. 3B. Annual percentage of deaths from ovarian cancer and other causes among patients with stage II tumors.
Figure 4
Figure 4
A. Annual frequency of death from ovarian cancer and other causes among patients with stage III-IV tumors. 4B. Annual percentage of deaths from ovarian cancer and other causes among patients with stage III-IV tumors.
Figure 4
Figure 4
A. Annual frequency of death from ovarian cancer and other causes among patients with stage III-IV tumors. 4B. Annual percentage of deaths from ovarian cancer and other causes among patients with stage III-IV tumors.
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