abstract: Survival Benefit Associated With Surgical Oophorectomy in Patients With Colorectal Cancer Metastatic to the Ovary.

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:

The purpose of this study was to determine the outcome of patients with colorectal cancer metastatic to the ovary and the impact of surgical oophorectomy on the outcome.

METHODS:

We conducted a retrospective evaluation of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer to the ovary. Of 3776 female patients with colorectal cancer seen at MD Anderson from 2001-2008, 110 (2.9%) were identified as having metastases to the ovary. The Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test were used to examine the survival functions.

RESULTS:

Seventy-one patients (64.5%) had disease metastatic to the ovary at the time of initial presentation; in 39 patients (35.5%) the ovaries were a site of relapse after previous curative colorectal surgical resection. Patients who presented with ovarian relapse after previous colorectal surgery and who underwent oophorectomy had a median survival of 50 months compared with 12 months for those who did not (P < .0001). Patients with metastatic disease at the time of presentation who underwent oophorectomy had a median survival of 39.4 months vs. 18.2 months for those who did not.

CONCLUSIONS:

This retrospective analysis suggests that women with metastatic colorectal cancer metastatic to the ovary may derive a survival benefit from palliative oophorectomy.