The CancerWeb Report, What's New In Cancer: November, 1996
Ovarian Cancer

• The natural course for patients with early (Stage I) disease after surgery - A report by doctors at the Royal Marsden Hospital in the UK, described the follow-up of 194 patients with Stage I ovarian cancer who were treated surgically between 1980 and 1994. The study was published in the November, 1996 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology. None of the patients received adjuvant therapy, and all were followed for 7-157 months by clinical examination, CT scan, and measurement of serum CA 125, a cancer marker. Five-year survival rates were 93.7% for Stage IA, 92% for Stage IB, and 84% for Stage IC. Among the indicators of poor prognosis were degree of malignancy of the cells (grade) by microscopic examination, ascites, that is fluid containing tumor cells in the abdomen, and surface tumor. The report provides useful information about the course of the disease when it is untreated after surgery. (Ahmed, J Clin Oncol 14:2968, 1996)