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Original Article
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Korean J Obstet Gynecol. 2008;51(8):850-857. Published online August 1, 2008.
- Epithelial ovarian cancer in patients under 20 years of age.
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Ji Hyang Choi, Soo Young Hur, Seog Nyeon Bae, Seong Sup Park, Sung Eun Namkoong, Joon Mo Lee
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1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea. leejm@catholic.ac.kr
2Kangnam St. Mary's Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.
3Seoul Medical Center, Holy Family Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.
- Abstract
- OBJECTIVE
Epithelial ovarian cancer is the most common cause of death due to gynecologic malignancies in adults, but is rare in children and adolescents. This is a report of series of such patients under 20 years of age documenting their presentation, histologic type, stage of disease, treatment, and outcome. METHODS: We collected data on 21 patients with epithelial ovarian cancer under 20 years of age between January 1990 and December 2005. Patient records and pathology were reviewed. RESULTS: Epithelial ovarian cancer under 20 years of age was 2.2% in overall ovarian cancer. Epithelial ovarian cancer was 42.0% among 50 patients under 20 years of age and the most common histologic type was germ cell tumors (54%). The median age at the time of diagnosis was 17.6 years (range, 13-20 years), and the median follow-up was 87 months (range, 4-175 months). There were seventeen (81.0%) mucinous tumors, four (19.0%) serous tumors. About thirty-eight percent were low malignant potential or borderline tumors. About Eighty-five percent (18 patients) of tumors were stage I disease and about fourteen percent (3 patients) were stage III disease at the time of diagnosis. Surgical treatment included conservative surgery in 18 patients (85.7%), total abdominal hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo- oophorectomy in 3 patients (14.3%). CONCLUSION: Epithelial ovarian cancers are rare in patients in children and adolescents. The majority of ovarian cancers in this age group are mucinous tumors, stage I at diagnosis and borderline ovarian tumor. Conservative management is feasible to achieve preservation of fertility.
Keywords :Epithelial ovarian cancer;Children;Adolescence;Conservative management
