Purpose: Borderline ovarian tumors (BOTs) constitute about a quarter of epithelial ovarian malignancies and require different treatment approaches. The present study aims to document the experience of a single center on the treatment outcome of women who had conservative or comprehensive surgery for BOTs.
Methods: One hundred eighty-three patients with BOTs, diagnosed and/or treated in our center between January of 2000 and March of 2013, were reviewed retrospectively.
Results: The mean age at diagnosis was 40.6 years old (range 17-78). Ninety-five patients (51 %) were ≤40 years. Comprehensive surgical staging and fertility sparing surgery were performed in 49 % (n = 91) and 48 % of patients (n = 89) respectively. A hundred and forty-seven patients had stage IA disease (80 %). The most common type of BOT was serous in histology with 18 % bilateralism. CA-125 and CA-199 levels were increased in 29 (19 %) and 15 (10 %) patients with stage IA disease. Non-invasive tumor implants were diagnosed in 9 patients (4 %) and uterine involvement was 2 % among BOT patients that underwent hysterectomies. The mean post-operative follow-up period was 20.4 months (range 6-78 months). Disease recurrence was seen in 5 patients indicating overall recurrence rate of 2.7 %.
Conclusions: In our study, we evaluated a large data pool of 183 patients diagnosed with borderline epithelial ovarian tumors. BOTs have a relatively better prognosis than invasive epithelial ovarian cancer. Surgery with proper staging is the cornerstone of treatment. Patients with BOTs at the early stage can undergo fertility sparing surgery with close follow-up.