[Superficial lymph node metastasis from ovarian cancer--an analysis of 31 cases]

From March 1958 to June 1988, 53 cases of ovarian cancer with superficial lymph node metastasis (SLM) were treated in our hospital comprising 5.6% of patients with malignant ovarian tumors in the same period. Of 53 cases, 31 were proven by histopathology, and 27 had serous adenocarcinoma. Of these 31 cases, 15 with Stage IV lesion had SLM at time when first seen in the clinic and the others developed SLM during treatment or afterwards. The median survival was 34.7, 11.8 and 12.9 months in Grades I, II and III, respectively. Prognosis is related to pathological grade. The median survival was 36.5 months in 10/31 patients treated with surgery combined with chemotherapy and radiotherapy, 9.1 months in 6/31 treated with surgery plus chemotherapy, 22.4 months in 3/31 treated with radiotherapy only and 8.5 months in 6/31 treated with chemotherapy only. It is suggested that aggressive treatment can improve survival.