Ten‐year follow‐up study of long‐term outcomes after conservative surgery for early‐stage ovarian cancer

Objective To evaluate long‐term outcomes after surgery for apparent early ‐ stage ovarian cancer (OC). Methods Retrospective analysis of women who underwent staging surgery for apparent early‐stage OC at a single center in Milan, Italy, from 1990 to 2008, and had a follow‐up longer than 10 years (living women with no recurrence). Univariate and multivariate analyses and propensity score matching were carried out. Results Overall, 182 women underwent radical (n=148, 81.3%) or conservative (n=34, 18.7%) procedures for early‐stage OC. Ten‐year disease‐free and overall survival were 82.9% (n=151) and 87.9% (n=160), respectively. Conservative or radical surgery had similar disease‐free (log‐rank test, P =0.783) and overall (log‐rank test, P =0.783) survival. These data were confirmed after the application of propensity score matching. High‐risk features correlated with non‐significant worse disease‐free survival ( P =0.080). In the high‐risk group (≥Grade 3 or ≥ Stage IC), type of surgical approach (conservative vs radical) did not affect survival (hazard ratio, 0.81; 95% confidence interval, 0.18–3.56; P =0.781). Conclusion Women with early‐stage OC had encouraging long‐term survival. The presence of high‐risk disease had detrimental effects on survival, regardless of surgical approach. High‐risk disease should not be considered a contraindication to conservative surgery.