Brain metastases from epithelial ovarian cancer--report of cases

Epithelial ovarian cancer is one of the gynecological malignancies most commonly diagnosed late and one of the principal causes of mortality among women. The majority of women present with advanced disease. However, 5-year survival of patients with ovarian cancer has improved in recent years. Brain metastases from epithelial ovarian cancer are rare but in the last few years the incidence of brain complications seems to be increasing. Among all patients registered as having epithelial ovarian cancer at the Department of Oncology, Division of Gynecological Oncology, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poland between August 1998 and March 2008, four patients (4/669) who developed central nervous system (CNS) metastases were identified. Patients with symptoms of the CNS were evaluated by a neurologist, with a CT scan of the brain. The most common symptom of brain metastases are headaches which occur in 40-50% of patients. Because of the rarity of these patients, the optimal treatment for brain metastases is ill-defined. Brain metastasis usually appears with a poor prognosis, however early diagnosis and aggressive multimodal treatment can improve the quality of life in patients.