Clinical Characteristics of Ovarian Metastasis from Colorectal Cancer

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: Treatment of ovarian metastasis from colorectal cancer has been controversial, and only limited data on ovarian metastasis have been reported. We reviewed the clinical features of patients with ovarian metastasis from a colorectal carcinoma. METHODS: From 1993 to 2002, 568 women were treated for colorectal cancer. Of those, 17 cases were diagnosed as ovarian metastasis. We reviewed the 17 cases retrospectively. RESULTS: The incidence of ovarian metastasis was 3.0% (17/568). The number of cases involving synchronous ovarian metastasis was 7 (1.2%). Those 7 patients also had another metastasis including ovarian metastasis. Ten cases (1.8%) involved metachronous ovarian metastasis. Of those 10 patients, 8 had ovarian metastasis in combination with other organ metastasis. The median disease-free interval from the diagnosis of the primary colorectal cancer to the diagnosis of ovarian metastasis was 9.8 months, and the median survival after the diagnosis of ovarian metastasis was 17.2 months. The median survival after the diagnosis of ovarian metastasis was 23.4 months in the ovarian- metastasis-only group, compared with 10.1 months in the group with ovarian and other metastasis. The difference in survival between the two groups was statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of ovarian metastasis from colorectal cancer was low. When such an event occurred, it was frequently associated with widespread disease and resulted in a poor prognosis. However, patients having only ovarian metastasis had a higher survival rate.