Comparison of clinical findings associated with the treatment of elderly versus younger patients with epithelial ovarian cancer / 대한산부인과학회지

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the differences in the surgical and chemotherapeutic outcomes of elderly versus younger patients with epithelial ovarian cancer. METHODS: We compared clinical characteristics, operative factors and outcomes of chemotherapy of elderly patients 65 years old or over (n=26) with those of younger patients aged 41-49 years (n=47). All subjects underwent their primary surgical therapy and following adjuvant chemotherapy at Seoul National University Hospital, from January 1996 to June 2003. RESULTS: As for tumor characteristics (tumor stage, histology etc.), there were no differences between two groups. Medical comorbidities were more frequent in the elderly group, primarily due to hypertension (50.0% vs. 28.3%; p=0.02). Optimal surgical treatment and adjuvant chemotherapy were performed less frequently in the elderly group (54.2% vs. 78.3; p=0.012). Perioperative and postoperative variables (operation time, intraoperative bleeding, postoperational complications and duration of hospitalization etc.) showed no differences except episode of transfusion in the elderly group. Residual mass, diameter less than 2 cm, showed difference between two groups with marginal significance (30.4% vs 55.6%, p=0.072). Chemotherapeutic dosage reduction was more frequent in elderly group (23.1% vs. 8.5%; p=0.003), but the occurrences of the chemotherapeutic cycle delay and toxicity profiles, were similar in the two groups. Response rate to adjuvant chemotherapy and the number of recurrence were not different between two groups (p=0.119 and p=0.587). CONCLUSION: Elderly women who present the same distribution of stages as their younger counterparts are likely to be treated more conservatively than younger ovarian cancer patients.