CLINICOPATHOLOGICAL VARIABLES, OPERATIVE CHARACTERISTICS, AND DNA-PLOIDY IN PREDICTING OUTCOME IN OVARIAN EPITHELIAL CARCINOMA

Objective: To test the hypothesis that DNA content can predict operati ve morbidity and survival in patients with ovarian carcinoma. Methods: Subjects included patients diagnosed with invasive epithelial ovarian carcinoma at Brigham and Women's Hospital between July 1987 and Novem ber 1989. Fifty-nine patients were included in this analysis, In all c ases, now cytometry was performed on fresh tissue to evaluate DNA cont ent. The medical records were reviewed in all patients for estimated b lood loss, hospitalization days, intensive care unit days, operating r oom time, presence and size of residual disease, grade and type of tum or, stage, size of primary tumor, lymph node status, disease status, d ate of last examination, and number of months of follow-up. Results: P redictors for death included increasing age (P = .01), advanced stage (P = .007), the presence of malignant ascites (P = .03), residual tumo r at completion of operation (P < .001), increased estimated blood los s (P < .001), increased hospitalization days (P < .001), and increased operating room hours (P < .001). When we controlled for age and stage , only estimated blood loss and residual tumor predicted poor outcome. Deoxyribonucleic acid ploidy, whether stratified as diploid or aneupl oid or with DNA index cutoffs, did not predict tumor recurrence or sur vival rates. Conclusion: Deoxyribonucleic acid ploidy has not yet been proven to be of independent prognostic importance for identifying gro ups of patients at high risk of dying from invasive epithelial ovarian carcinoma.