Clinicopathological Characteristics of Ovarian Metastasis from Colorectal Cancer

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: Treatment of ovarian metastasis from colorectal cancer has been controversial. We investigated the clinicopathologic features and treatment outcomes of patients with ovarian metastasis from colorectal carcinoma. METHODS: From January 1996 to May 2009, 567 women were treated for colorectal cancer. Of those, 23 patients were diagnosed as having ovarian metastasis. We reviewed 19 pathologically proven cases, retrospectively. RESULTS: The incidence of ovarian metastasis was 4.0%. The number of cases involving synchronous ovarian metastases was 9 (47.4%), and 10 cases (52.6%) involved metachronous ovarian metastases. Thirteen patients had metastases located in the pelvis and 6 also had peritoneal dissemination in addition to the ovarian metastasis. Twenty (63.1%) were treated with grossly complete resection. After a median follow-up duration of 45 months (range of 6~96 months), the median survival after the diagnosis of ovarian metastasis was 40 months. The median overall survival was significantly longer in the grossly complete resection group (48.5 vs. 16 months; P=0.001). For median survival after the diagnosis of ovarian-metastasis, patients with grossly complete resection showed a significantly more favorable survival rate than the group with remnant tumors (46.5 vs 9 months; P=0.009). The survival of patients with metastases located in the pelvis was better than the group with peritoneal dissemination. CONCLUSION: Grossly complete resection would be of help to improve the prognosis in selective patients with metastasis from colorectal cancer, especially when metastasis is located in the pelvis.