Significance of pretreatment serum hemoglobin and survival in epithelial ovarian cancer

Tumor anemia is common in patients with malignant tumors and it was repeate dly demonstrated to be associated with impaired prognosis in patients with malignant tumors. We conducted a retrospective analysis based on 553 patien ts with histologically proven epithelial ovarian cancer. Blood hemoglobin l evels were determined before surgery and patients with values <12 g/dl were considered anemic. Data analysis included univariate and multiple Cox mode ls. Tumor anemia was present in 143 (25.9%) patients before surgery. Tumor anemia was present in 143 (25.9%) patients before surgery. In a multivariat e Cox model, pretreatment hemoglobin Values proved to be an independent pro gnostic factor for patients with stage I-II epithelial ovarian cancer (n=20 3), but failed to attain significance in patients with stage III-IV disease (n=350). Tumor anemia defined as pretreatment hemoglobin values <12 g/dl m ay indicate patients with stage I and II epithelial ovarian cancer, who are at increased risk of relapse.