Survival and prognostic factors in early-stage epithelial ovarian carcinoma treated with taxane-based adjuvant chemotherapy

The present study was undertaken with the question about the outcome (recurrence-free survival, [RFS]) after adjuvant chemotherapy with taxane and carboplatin in the early stages of epithelial ovarian cancer after primary surgery. Treatment-related toxicity was also evaluated. A total of 113 patients were included in this study. The 5-year RFS rate for all 113 patients treated with adjuvant chemotherapy including taxane and carboplatin after primary surgery was 79%. The 5-year RFS rate for 85 patients in FIGO stage I was 85% and for 18 patients in FIGO stage II, it was 44%. For clear-cell carcinomas, the RFS was 87%. In univariate analysis, recurrent disease was associated with both FIGO stage and tumor grade, but in multivariate logistic regression analysis of prognostic factors for tumor recurrences, only FIGO stage (stage I versus stage II) was a significant and independent prognostic factor. However, an odds ratio (OR) of 1.9 for tumor grade (grade 3 versus grades 1-2) demonstrated two times increased risk for recurrence in a patient with a grade 3 tumor compared with grade 1-2 tumors. Furthermore, an OR of 0.39 for lymph node sampling versus no sampling meant 61% reduced risk for recurrence for a patient who had undergone lymph node sampling at surgical staging laparotomy. The major toxicities in the present study were myelosuppression (46%) and neurotoxicity (34%). Despite the use of prophylaxis, severe paclitaxel-related hypersensitivity occurred in three patients (3%).