Hysterectomy or not for borderline ovarian tumor in menopause?

The role of hysterectomy for borderline ovarian tumor (BOT) among postmenopausal women is still unclear.

To assess the impact of hysterectomy on survival outcomes in postmenopausal women with BOT.

This study was a national, multicenter, observational, retrospective, cohort study including all consecutive eligible postmenopausal patients who underwent primary surgery for BOT in 20 Italian centers from January 2005 to December 2017. Patients were divided into two groups: hysterectomy group vs no-hysterectomy group. Primary outcome was disease-free survival (DFS) at 5 years of follow-up; secondary outcomes were overall survival (OS) and disease-specific survival (DSS) at 5 years of follow-up, hazard ratio (HR) for recurrence, death of any cause and death due to BOT, peri-operative complications rates.

483 patients were included, 144 (29.8 %) women in the no-hysterectomy group and 339 (70.2 %) in the hysterectomy group. Recurrences were significantly more common in the no-hysterectomy group compared to hysterectomy one (8.3 % vs 2.7 %; p = 0.012). The 5-year DFS rate was lower in the no-hysterectomy group than that in the hysterectomy one [92.4 % vs 98.5 %; p = 0.007]. At univariate analyses, women who underwent hysterectomy showed HR of 0.312 (95 %CI:0.131-0.740; p = 0.008) for recurrence. At multivariate analysis, hysterectomy was found to be an independent protective factor for recurrence (HR: 0.253, 95 %CI:0.103-0.618, p < 0.003).

In postmenopausal women with BOT, hysterectomy is associated with a decreased risk of recurrence, while it does not affect the risk of death from any cause or death due to the disease. Based on these findings, hysterectomy should be routinely integrated into the surgical staging of BOT in postmenopausal women.