A recurrence-predicting prognostic factor for patients with ovarian clear-cell adenocarcinoma at reproductive age

Objectives: We retrospectively analyzed the clinicopathological features and evaluated the prognostic indicators of recurrence in 132 patients with clear cell adenocarcinoma (CCC) of the ovary at reproductive age.

Patients and methods: Between 1986 and 2011, as a regional population-based study, clinicopathological data on 132 young patients with CCC, collected under the central pathological review system, were subjected to uni- and multivariable analyses to evaluate recurrence-free survival (RFS).

Results: The median age was 40 (27–45) years. The median follow-up period for surviving patients was 46.4 months. During the observation period, there were 16 recurrences in 87 patients with stage I tumors (18.4 %), 8 in 17 with stage II (47.1 %), and 16 in 28 with III–IV (57.1 %). Subsequently, 35 patients died of the disease. Those with stage I or II did not reach the median RFS. The median RFS of stage III–IV was 21.6 months. When analysis was confined to stage I patients, there was no significant difference in the RFS of CCC patients between IA and IC(r) (intraoperative capsule rupture) (P = 0.7957). In contrast, CCC patients with IC excluding IC(r) [IC(non-r)] showed a poorer RFS than those with IC(r) (P < 0.0001). In multivariable analysis confined to stage I patients, the substage group was only an independent prognostic factor for RFS [IA vs. IC(non-r)] [hazard ratio (HR) = 9.394; 95 % CI, 1.445–61.070; P = 0.0190].

Conclusion: We should keep in mind the greater risk of recurrence in patients with stage IC disease or higher, other than those stage IC patients with intraoperative rupture.