Epithelial ovarian carcinoma in women aged below 30 years

Objective:To study the manifestation,pathohistologic type,stage of disease,treatment andoutcome of epithelial ovarian carcinoma in women under the age of 30 years.Methods:The 21 cases of epithelial ovarian carcinoma in women aged below 30 years betweenJan,1986 and Mar,2002 were analyzed retrospectively.Results:The median age at the time of diagnosis was 24 years(range,16-29 years).All car-cinomas occurred after menarche.The most common symptoms were abdominal pain(50%),fol-lowed by tympanites(25%)and menstrual disorders(19%).The initial diagnosis was usuallymade by physical examination,ultrasonography and serum CA125.The mean maximal tumor di-ameter was 17.6 cm.Ten patients had Stage Ⅰ disease(5 Ⅰa,5 Ⅰc),five had Stage Ⅲ disease,andthe other six were unknown during staging operation.There were nine mucinous tumors,six se-rous tumors.Most tumors were well-differentiated and classified as Grade1 in 11 cases,Grade2 in2 cases,Grade3 in 2 cases,unknown in 6 cases.Optimal and suboptimal cytoreduction wasachieved in 14 patients in primary treatment and 5 in recurrent treatment.8 patients were treatedwith conservative surgery.18 patients were treated with chemotherapy and 7 patients had experi-enced six or more than six courses of chemotherapy.The median follow-up was 50 months(range,2-192 months).There were 6 deaths,2 alive with tumor,11 alive without the disease,2losing follow-up.The 3-year survival rate was 89%,and 5-year survival rate was 76%.Conclusion:Young patients with epithelial ovarian carcinoma appeared to have a less aggres-sive form of the disease and a more favorable prognosis.

Objective. To study the manifestation, pathohistologic type, stage of disease, treatment and outcome of epithelial ovarian carcinoma in women under the age of 30 years. Methods. The 21 cases of epithelial ovarian carcinoma in women aged below 30 years between Jan, 1986 and Mar, 2002 were analyzed retrospectively. Results. The median age at the time of diagnosis was 24 years （range, 16-29 years）. All carcinomas occurred after menarche. The most common symptoms were abdominal pain （50%）, followed by tympanites （25%） and menstrual disorders （19%）. The initial diagnosis was usually made by physical examination, ultrasonography and serum CA125. The mean maximal tumor diameter was 17.6 cm. Ten patients had Stage Ⅰ disease （5 Ia, 5 Ic）, five had Stage Ⅲdisease, and the other six were unknown during staging operation. There were nine mucinous tumors, six serous tumors. Most tumors were well-differentiated and classified as Grade1 in 11 cases, Grade2 in 2 cases, Grade3 in 2 cases, unknown in 6 cases. Optimal and suboptimal cytoreduction was achieved in 14 patients in primary treatment and 5 in recurrent treatment. 8 patients were treated with conservative surgery. 18 patients were treated with chemotherapy and 7 patients had experienced six or more than six courses of chemotherapy. The median follow-up was 50 months （range, 2-192 months）. There were 6 deaths, 2 alive with tumor, 11 alive without the disease, 2 losing follow-up. The 3-year survival rate was 89%, and 5-year survival rate was 76%. Conclusion. Young patients with epithelial ovarian carcinoma appeared to have a less aggressive form of the disease and a more favorable prognosis.