Mixed mesodermal tumor of the ovary: analysis of prognostic factors in 31 cases

To determine significant prognostic factors in patients with mixed mesodermal tumors of the ovary.

Thirty-one cases of mixed mesodermal tumor of the ovary treated at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center between 1977-1990 were reviewed retrospectively. The mean patient age was 61 years. Distribution by stage was as follows: I, seven (23%); II, one (3%); III, 15 (48%); and IV, eight (26%). The median follow-up for survivors was 62 months. Following primary surgery, chemotherapy included cisplatin (four), doxorubicin (seven), or both (ten); six patients received various other treatments.

The median survival for the entire group was 10.6 months. In 19 cases (61%), heterologous sarcomatous elements were present in the primary tumor, whereas 12 (39%) contained homologous elements only. There was a trend toward improved survival in patients whose primary tumors had only homologous stromal elements (P = .06). The overall survival was significantly better for the eight patients with early-stage (I, II) disease than for the 23 patients with advanced-stage (III, IV) disease (P = .01). The size of residual disease after cytoreductive surgery was not a significant prognostic factor. There was no difference in survival between the ten women whose metastatic disease contained only epithelial elements and the 16 whose metastases contained mesenchymal elements as well (P = .23).

This study confirms previous observations that mixed mesodermal tumors of the ovary are a highly malignant group of tumors that respond poorly to chemotherapy. In addition, we demonstrated that prognosis is independent of the presence or absence of sarcomatous elements in the metastases.