Abstract:

Objective To investigate the differences in prognosis between different surgical approaches in elderly patients with advanced ovarian cancer. Methods Based on the Surveillance， Epidemiology and End Results （SEER） database， a cohort of elderly patients with advanced ovarian cancer from 2000 to 2020 was established. Through propensity score matching， 2 094 patients were selected from those who underwent two different surgical approaches to form a matched cohort （SEER database cohort）， including 1 039 patients who received cytoreductive surgery and 1 055 patients who underwent local resection. Meanwhile， 148 elderly patients with advanced ovarian cancer who were treated at the First Affiliated Hospital of Shandong First Medical University from January 2012 to January 2024 were selected （hospital cohort）， among whom 85 underwent cytoreductive surgery and 63 underwent local resection. The prognostic differences among patients who underwent cytoreductive surgery and local resection in two cohorts and stratified by the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics （FIGO） staging were evaluated， respectively. The relationship between the causes of death and surgical approaches in elderly patients with advanced ovarian cancer was analyzed. Results In the SEER database cohort， the median overall survival （OS） for patients who underwent cytoreductive surgery and local resection was 37 and 40 months， respectively， with 5-year OS rates of 31.47% and 33.74%， with no statistically significant difference （χ²=0.78， P=0.378）. After stratification by FIGO staging， the median OS for patients with stage ⅢB-ⅢC who underwent cytoreductive surgery （n=998） and local resection （n=962） was 38 and 40 months， respectively， with no statistically significant difference （χ²=0.20， P=0.659）. For patients with stage Ⅳ， the median OS for those who underwent cytoreductive surgery （n=41） and local resection （n=93） was 17 and 36 months， respectively， with a statistically significant difference （χ²=9.37， P=0.002）. Among 2 094 elderly patients with advanced ovarian cancer， 1 581 had clearly identified causes of death. In patients who underwent cytoreductive surgery， the proportions of deaths due to ovarian cancer and non-ovarian cancer were 94.52% （742/785） and 5.48% （43/785）， respectively. In patients who underwent local resection， the proportions of deaths due to ovarian cancer and non-ovarian cancer were 91.46% （728/796） and 8.54% （68/796）， respectively. There was a statistically significant difference in the distribution of causes of death between the two surgical approaches （χ²=5.69， P=0.017）. In the hospital cohort， the median OS for patients undergoing cytoreductive surgery and local resection was 39 and 51 months， respectively， with 5-year OS rates of 22.85% and 23.81%， with a statistically significant difference （χ²=6.71， P=0.010）. After stratification by FIGO staging， the median OS for patients with stage ⅢB-ⅢC undergoing cytoreductive surgery （n=29） and local resection （n=26） was 50 and 51 months， respectively， with no statistically significant difference （χ²=0.15， P=0.699）； for patients with stage Ⅳ undergoing cytoreductive surgery （n=56） and local resection （n=37）， the median OS was 35 and 47 months， respectively， with a statistically significant difference （χ²=6.55， P=0.011）. Conclusions The survival outcomes of local resection in elderly patients with advanced ovarian cancer are not inferior to those of cytoreductive surgery. For FIGO stage Ⅳ patients， the survival period following local resection is superior to that of cytoreductive surgery.

Key words: Ovarian neoplasms, Aged, Cytoreduction surgical procedures, Prognosis, Local resection