Clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients with stage I epithelial ovarian cancer compared with fallopian tube cancer

Objective The purpose of this study was to compare clinical characteristics and survival between patients with stage I epithelial ovarian cancer and fallopian tube cancer. Study Design We identified women with stage I epithelial ovarian cancer and fallopian tube cancer who underwent treatment from 2000-2010. Correlation between categoric variables was assessed with χ² test. The Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was used to generate overall survival data. Factors predictive of outcome were compared with the use of the log-rank test and Cox proportional hazards model. Results The study group consisted of 385 women with epithelial ovarian cancer and 43 women with fallopian tube cancer. Patients with fallopian tube cancer had a higher rate of stage IA disease (65% vs 48%; P =.02) and grade 3 tumors (60.4% vs 30.9%; P <.001). Patients with fallopian tube cancer had a significantly higher rate of breast cancer (25.6% vs 5.7%; P <.001) and BRCA 1 mutations (45.8% vs 9.1%; P <.001). There was no difference in the rates of platinum-based and paclitaxel chemotherapy between the groups. Women with fallopian tube cancer were more likely to have received ≥ 6 cycles of chemotherapy (58.1% vs 44.1%; P =.02). The 5-year disease-free survival rates were 100% in women with fallopian tube cancer and 93% in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer (P =.04). The 5-year overall survival rates were 100% and 95% for fallopian tube cancer and epithelial ovarian cancer, respectively (P =.7). Conclusion We found a higher rate of stage IA, grade 3, and serous carcinoma in fallopian tube cancer. Women with fallopian tube cancer had a higher rate of breast cancer. There was no difference in overall survival between the groups.