PRELIMINARY-ANALYSIS OF THE BEHAVIOR OF STAGE-I OVARIAN SEROUS TUMORSOF LOW MALIGNANT POTENTIAL - A GYNECOLOGIC-ONCOLOGY-GROUP STUDY

Purpose: From December 1983 through February 1992, a prospective study designed to determine the clinical course of patients with ovarian tu mors of low malignant potential (LMP) was conducted by the Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG). Materials and Methods: This protocol was develo ped to evaluate he following (1) the biologic behavior of ovarian LMP tumors, (2) the effectiveness of melphalan chemotherapy in patients wi th clinically detectable residual disease after surgical staging and i n patients whose rumors progress or recur after surgical therapy, and (3) the response rate to cisplatin in those who failed to respond to m elphalan therapy, The study group consisted of 146 assessable patients with stage I serous LMP tumors. All of these women had the affected o vary (or ovaries) removed, and a complete staging operation was perfor med in each case, While 123 patients had a total abdominal hysterectom y (TAH) and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy (BSO), 21 retained the ute rus and one normal-appearing ovary and fallopian tube. No adjuvant che motherapy or radiation therapy was administered to any patients in the stage I study group. Results: The median follow-up time was 42.4 mont hs (range, 1.6 to 108), Thus for, no patient with a stage I ovarian se rous LMP tumor has developed recurrent disease. Conclusion: Stage I ov arian serous LMP tumors rarely, if ever, recur. Limited resection, aft er meticulous surgical exploration, is adequate therapy for women of r eproductive age. (C) 1995 by American Society of Clinical Oncology.