The prognostic value of age for patients with common epithelial ovarian cancer.

For 230 patients with common epithelial ovarian cancer, the prognostic impact of age was examined. Statistical analysis was done using proportional hazard models, 3- and 5-year survival rates and median survival of stratified groups, and the Kaplan-Meier mean. Taking the age-adjusted mortality into account, the prognosis of the older patients was significantly worse. This effect depended primarily on early mortality (survival time less than 2 months). A comparative analysis was made of the prognostic factors age, grade, and stage, taking into account the correlation between factors. This analysis showed that, for our series, age was of lesser prognostic significance than grading, and both of these were of much less prognostic importance than staging.