[Long-term studies of patients with borderline tumors of the ovaries]

This retrospective investigation comprises a follow-up observation of 51 patients with borderline tumours of the ovaries, who had been treated at the Department of Gynaecology of the University of Erlangen between January 1st 1966 and December 31st 1986. The average age was approx. ten years younger that of patients with invasive carcinomas and 65% of the patients were in stage I. For women in stage Ia desiring children, unilateral adnexectomy is sufficient in the context of meticulous staging laparotomy. The remaining ovary should be further exposed by wedge excision. Once the family is complete, hysterectomy and adnexectomy should then be carried out retrospectively in view of the high risk of bilaterality. In ovarian tumours of borderline malignancy stages II and III, the surgical therapy should correspond to the procedure for invasive carcinomas, with the objective of postoperative freedom from tumour. Lymphonodectomy is not obligatory in view of the very rare involvement of lymph nodes. The question as to the necessity of adjuvant therapy is still open. Our observations indicate, that combination chemotherapy, containing cisplatinum is effective as adjuvant therapy in advanced stages as well as in recurrences, which cannot be completely resected surgically. 18% of our patients with borderline tumours suffered a recurrence or tumour progression, in consequence of which five died (10%). The recurrences were manifested clinically after 33 months at the earliest, and after 164 months at the latest, so that the follow-up in these patients should extend over a period of more than ten years.