Dr. Barnhill et al., PRELIMINARY-ANALYSIS OF THE BEHAVIOR OF STAGE-I OVARIAN SEROUS TUMORSOF LOW MALIGNANT POTENTIAL - A GYNECOLOGIC-ONCOLOGY-GROUP STUDY, Journal of clinical oncology, 13(11), 1995, pp. 2752-2756
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.