ABSTRACT
Objective: To assess the incidence, 5-year survival rate and identify the prognostic factors for survival in a cohort of patients with recurrent/ refractory epithelial ovarian cancer in Siriraj Hospital. Methods: We performed a retrospective chart review of 140 patients with primary recurrent / refractory epithelial ovarian cancer who received their treatment at Siriraj Hospital between October 1998 and December 2006. Incidence, 5-year survival rate and potential prognostic factors for survival were identified. Statistical analysis was by SPSS for Windows version 11.5. Kaplan-Meier survival curves were computed and a multivariable proportional hazard model (Cox) was applied to assess the prognostic significance of the different covariates. Results: The incidence of recurrent/refractory epithelial ovarian cancer when compared to total new cases of epithelial ovarian cancer during a 1-year period was 33.62%. The 5-year survival rate for the cohort was 47%, whereas the median overall survival was 4.91 years and the median survival post recurrence was 2.5 years. Of these patients, 64/140 (45.7%) have died of disease. Seventeen factors were evaluated for prognostic significance for survival, on multivariate analysis, only the tumor free interval (TFI) (P = 0.016) and CA 125 at the time of recurrence or refractory (P = 0.02) retained prognostic significance. Conclusion: The incidence of recurrent/ refractory epithelial ovarian cancer when compared to total new cases of epithelial ovarian cancer is about one third. This cohort had a prolonged median overall survival and satisfied a 5-year survival rate. The significant prognostic factors for survival in a cohort of patients are the tumor free interval and CA 125 at time of recurrence or refractory.