Cure of Recurrent Ovarian Cancer: A Multicenter Retrospective Study.

BACKGROUND

The prognosis for recurrent ovarian cancer is poor, but a small percentage of patients can be cured. The aim of this study was to clarify the criteria for being cured and the characteristics of cured cases.

METHODS

Ovarian cancer cases at 2 university hospitals and 8 community hospitals were analyzed to identify patients who were considered cured after complete remission (CR) following recurrence. Analyses of the tumors were performed and included mutation analysis.

RESULTS

Of the 157 cases of recurrence, 21 (13%) showed no evidence of disease (NED). NED cases had a lower rate of ascites at the initial diagnosis, longer disease-free survival, a higher rate of solitary lesions, and a higher rate of secondary debulking surgery. All CR cases except for one showed no further recurrence when DFS reached 4 years, which was considered a criterion for being cured. The case of relapse occurred after long-term treatment with bevacizumab. Furthermore, 19.4% of the CR cases achieved 4-year DFS, which represents 9.3% of the cases of recurrent ovarian cancer and 2.3% of all cases of ovarian cancer. mutation analysis of the tumor was possible in 17 of the 30 cases of recurrent ovarian cancer that achieved a 4-year DFS. Pathogenic variants of were found in 5 of the 11 cases of high-grade serous carcinoma.

CONCLUSIONS

Approximately 10% of patients with recurrent ovarian cancer achieved a 4-year DFS and were mostly cured. The curing of cases not involving high-grade serous carcinoma (HGSC) was unrelated to the presence of pathogenic variants.