Clinicodemographic factors influencing outcomes in patients with low-grade serous ovarian carcinoma

BACKGROUND: Low-grade serous carcinoma (LGSC) of the ovary is a rare tumor that is distinct from its high-grade counterpart. The objective of this study was to determine whether patient demographic factors and clinical treatment histories affected survival in a population of women with LGSC. METHODS: A review of patients who had pathologically confirmed LGSC of the ovary diagnosed between 1977 and 2009 was performed. Abstracted data included medical and social histories, anthropometric measurements, and details about diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up. Statistical analyses included Fisher exact tests, Cox proportional hazards models, and the Kaplan-Meier method. RESULTS: The study sample included 194 patients who had a median follow-up of 60.9 months (range, 1-383 months). In multivariate analyses, smoking had a negative association with both overall survival (OS) (hazard ratio [HR], 1.73; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.03-2.92; P =.04) and progression-free survival (PFS) (HR, 1.72; 95% CI, 1.00-2.96; P =.05). The median OS was shorter in current smokers than in former/never smokers (48.0 months vs 79.9 months; P =.002). PFS also was predicted by year of diagnosis >1994 (HR, 1.74; P =.01). Although the difference was not statistically significant, hormone consolidation appeared to be associated with better OS (HR, 0.15; P =.06) and better PFS (HR, 0.44; P =.07). A smaller proportion of the patients who received hormone consolidation experienced disease recurrence compared with the patients who did not receive hormone consolidation (66.7% vs 87.6%; P =.07). CONCLUSIONS: Smoking was associated negatively with survival outcomes in women with LGSC of the ovary, whereas consolidation treatment with hormone antagonists demonstrated a protective associative trend with survival. Both lifestyle modification and innovative treatment plans should be considered in this group of patients.