Associations between tumor diameter and prognostic variables of epithelial ovarian cancer

Purpose: Associations of tumor diameter in epithelial ovarian cancer with clinical and pathological prognostic variables were investigated.

Methods: The clinical and pathological records of 233 patients diagnosed with epithelial ovarian cancer and treated at Aichi Cancer Center were studied.

Results: Tumor diameters of 44 patients (18.9%) were < 5 cm, 90 (38.6%) were 5-10 cm, and 99 (42.5%) were > 10 cm. While 90.9% (40/44) of < 5 cm tumors presented with FIGO stage III-IV, 40.4% (40/99) of > 10 cm tumors were advanced. Intra-abdominal disease was also significantly associated with tumor diameter, although differences among lymph-node status were not significant. The incidence of serous and endometrioid adenocarcinoma in < 5 cm tumors were 75.0% (33/44) and 11.4% (5/44), respectively, while those of > 10 cm tumor were 32.3% (32/99) and 17.2% (17/99). Multivariate analysis revealed that tumor diameter was not an independent prognostic variable.

Conclusion: Tumor diameter of ovarian cancer is associated closely with histological subtypes and stage of disease, especially intra-abdominal disease.

Ovarian cancer; Tumor diameter

[1] Hoskins W. J., McGuire W. P., Brady M. F., Homesley H. D., Creasman W. T., Berman M. et al.: "The effect of diameter of largest residual disease on survival after primary cytoreductive surgery in patients with suboptimal residual epithelial ovarian carcinoma". Am. J. Obstet. Gynecol., 1994, 170, 974.

[2] Makar A. P., Baekelandt M., Trope C. G., Kristensen G. B.: "The prognostic significance of residual disease, FIGO substage, tumor histology, and grade in patients with FIGO stage III ovarian cancer". Gynecol. Oncol., 1995, 55, 175.

[3] Stratton J. F., Pharoah P., Tidy J. A., Paterson M. E.: "An analysis of ovarian tumor diameter and survival". Int. J. Gynecol. Cancer , 2000, 10, 449.

[4] Jacobs I. J., Skates S. J., MacDonald N., Menon U., Rosenthal A N., Davies A. P. et al.: "Screening for ovarian cancer: a pilot randomised controlled trial". Lancet, 1999, 353, 1207.

[5] Klaric P., Zovak M., Brezovec-Cvetnic B., Pirkic A., Tuckar N.: "Giant mucinous malignant ovarian tumor". Zentralhl. Gynakol., 1999, 121, 298.

[6] Feuer G. A., Shevchuk M., Calanog A.: "Normal-sized ovary carcinoma syndrome". Ohstet. Gynecol., 1989, 73, 789.

[7] Cannistra S. A.: "Cancer of the ovary". New Engl. J. Med., 1993, 329, 1550.

[8] Omura G. A., Brady M. F., Homesley H. D., Yordan E., Major F J., Buchsbaum H.J. et al.: "Long-term follow-up and prognostic factor analysis in advanced ovarian carcinoma: the Gynecologic Oncology Group experience". J. Clin. Oneal., 1991, 9, 1138.