Borderline ovarian tumor in women aged ≥ 65 years: impact on recurrence and survival

Borderline ovarian tumor (BOT) is uncommon in women with advanced age. The authors investigated the characteristics and treatment outcomes of women with BOT ≥ 65 years of age.

A hospital-based tumor registry was used to identify retrospectively patients with BOT who were treated between 1996 and 2011. Patients were divided into two cohorts: women aged <65 years and women aged ≥ 65 years. Recurrence and survival was examined using the Kaplan-Meier method. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards model was used to estimate hazard ratios with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI).

In total, 364 patients were identified, including 326 patients aged <65 years and 38 patients aged ≥ 65 years. The elderly patients had more comorbidities (P < 0.001), larger tumor size at diagnosis (P = 0.001), more perioperative complications (P = 0.001), and longer postoperative hospital stay (P < 0.001). In a multivariate model, the hazard ratios for recurrence and disease-related death in patients aged ≥ 65 years were 2.53 (95% CI, 1.03-6.23) and 7.66 (95% CI, 1.09-53.95), respectively.

Characteristics and survival of patients with BOTs aged ≥ 65 years differ distinctly from those of patients aged <65 years. Old age was an independent poor prognostic factor of recurrence and disease-related death.