Background & objective: Because most of patients with ovarian cancer are in advanced stage when initially noted, and are prone to relapse, ovarian cancer is a tough disease to treat. This study was to determine long-term prognostic factors correlated with prolonged survival of epithelial ovarian cancer patients, give reference for clinical practice.
Methods: Records of 691 patients with epithelial ovarian cancer, admitted in our hospital from Jan. 1986 to Dec. 2000, were retrospectively analyzed. Survival rate was calculated by life table method, and relevant factors were evaluated by univariate analysis. The potential prognostic variables were studied by Cox regression model.
Results: The 5-year, and 10-year survival rates of all patients were 56.0%, and 44.6%. Cox regression model revealed that clinical stage, size of tumor residues, pathologic type, histological grade, and number of chemotherapy cycles after surgery emerged as independent prognostic factors.
Conclusion: Accurate clinical staging and histopathologic assessment, satisfactory cytoreduction, and effective adequate chemotherapy may affect prognosis of ovarian cancer patients.