Management of stage‐I borderline ovarian tumors

Objective: To evaluate the surgical management and outcome of stage‐I borderline ovarian tumors. Methods: A series of 95 cases of FIGO stage‐I borderline ovarian tumors was retrospectively reviewed. Results: The age of the patients ranged from 17.6 to 88.9 years (mean 52.7 years). Serous and mucinous tumors were equally represented (47.5% and 47.4%, respectively), endometrioid and clear cell tumors comprising the remaining three (3.2%) and two (2.1%) cases. Extirpative primary surgery was performed on all patients. Three patients received postoperative chemotherapy. Nineteen of the 28 patients (67.9%) who were younger than 40 years underwent conservative surgery in which ovarian tissue and the uterus were preserved in order to maintain reproductive potential, and nine of them had successful pregnancies later. Ninety patients were followed regularly for 0.75–21.3 years (average 7.3 years). Seven patients suffered a tumor relapse (7.8%) within 0.6–4.3 years, and four (57.1%) of them (three with mucinous tumors, one with clear cell tumor) died of the disease within 1–10.8 years. The 5‐ and 10‐year overall survival rates were 97.0% and 86.3%, respectively, and the disease‐free survival rates were 90.8% in both 5‐ and 10‐year follow‐ups. Conclusions: Even though the prognosis of surgically treated stage‐I borderline ovarian tumors is excellent, mucinous and clear cell sub‐types are associated with potential mortality.