Influence of Age on Treatment and Prognosis in Ovarian Cancer Patients

Background: Ovarian cancer, particularly in advanced stages, requires cytoreductive surgery followed by chemotherapy. A significant proportion of patients are elderly, yet older women are often treated with non-standard regimens despite a lack of consistent evidence linking age to prognosis. The aim of this study is to assess age-specific differences in treatment and survival outcomes for ovarian cancer in women aged 70 years or older. Methods: This retrospective study included ovarian cancer patients treated at the Hospital del Mar, Barcelona, between 2016 and 2022. Patients were stratified into two groups: <70 and ≥70 years. Clinical and pathological data were analyzed, and hazard ratios (HR) for overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) were calculated using Cox proportional hazards regression models. Multivariate analysis was performed to compare outcomes. Results: A total of 110 patients were included (73 <70 years, 37 ≥70 years). Among the older group, 80.5% were diagnosed at advanced stages (III-IV), compared to 63% in the younger group (p = 0.012). Patients aged ≥70 were more likely to undergo interval surgery (p = 0.053) and receive non-standard treatment (p = 0.023). Complete cytoreduction was achieved in 95.8% of younger patients versus 81.3% of older patients (p = 0.024). Age ≥70 did not significantly impact DFS (p = 0.091), but OS was significantly worse in the older group (44.4% vs. 67.2%, p = 0.014). Conclusions: Older women (≥70 years) with ovarian cancer are more likely to be diagnosed at advanced stages, receive non-standard treatment, and achieve suboptimal cytoreduction compared to younger patients. While DFS was similar across age groups, older age was associated with worse OS, highlighting the need for age-tailored treatment strategies.