Treatment and survival outcomes from epithelial ovarian cancer in women aged 65 years or older

Objective: To describe the clinical features associated with the treatment and survival outcomes of older women with epithelial ovarian cancer. Materials and methods: Fifty-five women aged ≥ 65 years and diagnosed with epithelial ovarian cancer were enrolled. The clinical characteristics, treatment procedure and survival outcomes were presented and analyzed. Results: The mean age at the time of epithelial ovarian cancer diagnosis was 69.9 ± 3.9 years, with most women presenting with advanced stage disease (83.6%). Thirty-five patients (63.6%) received optimal cytoreduction, of whom 23 underwent surgery with a low surgical complexity score Forty-two percent of patients presented with postoperative complications, while five patients presented with three or more postoperative complications simultaneously. The large majority (87.3%) of patients received chemotherapy, and more than half (42%) relapsed. The three-year overall survival rate was 52.8%, while three-year progression-free survival was 33.3%. Advanced FIGO stage and residual lesions were the factors associated with reduced overall survival (p < 0.0001, p = 0.004), FIGO stage was also associated with progression-free survival (p = 0.001). Conclusions: Aggressive surgical debulking and chemotherapy are feasible for older epithelial ovarian cancer patients. Advanced FIGO stage and residual lesions are associated with reduced survival.

Geriatric patients; Epithelial ovarian cancer; Cytoreduction; Chemotherapy; Survival

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