Brain metastases in epithelial ovarian and primary peritoneal carcinoma

Central nervous system metastases are believed to be becoming more clinically evident as long-term survival for epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) and primary peritoneal cancer (PPC) has improved. Our objective was to report our experience with managing brain metastatic disease (BMD) in patients with EOC and PPC.

A retrospective review was performed on patients with EOC and PPC diagnosed with BMD from 1983 to 2007 at our institution.

Twenty-four patients were identified. Patients with multiple brain lesions (n = 16) had a shorter median time to diagnosis of BMD than patients with single lesions (n = 8; 22.5 vs 39 months). Radiation therapy was included in the treatment of BMD for 19 patients (78%). Fourteen patients received whole-brain radiation therapy (WBRT) only (survival, 6 months [range, 1-51 months]). Three patients received a combination of gamma knife radiosurgery and WBRT (survival, 20 months [range, 17-67 months]), and 1 patient received gamma knife radiosurgery alone (survival, 10 months). Four patients underwent craniotomy with 3 receiving postoperative WBRT (survival, 8.5 months [range, 2-97 months]). Two patients elected for palliative care only. The median survival from the diagnosis of BMD was 8.5 months (range, 1-97 months) with a 42% 1-year survival and 16% 2-year survival. Patients with single lesions had a significantly longer survival than patients with multiple lesions (17 months [range, 3-97 months] vs 6 months [range, 3-67 months], respectively).

Our report provides the largest single-institution experience of brain metastasis from EOC and PPC in patients receiving predominantly platinum and paclitaxel therapy. Patients with BMD from EOC and PPC have a poor prognosis overall; however, prolonged survival is possible in a small subset of patients.