[Metastatic ovarian tumors in rectal cancer patients]

Under investigation were 207 female patients with carcinoma of the rectum aged 17 to 68 subjected to bilateral ovariectomy in addition to radical operation. A control group (95 women) subjected only to radical operations for carcinoma of the rectum was also analyzed. It was found that the metastatic spreading of the rectum carcinoma into the ovaries took place in 8.2% of cases. The ovaries were established to be involved in patients with a considerable spread of the primary tumor (T3-T4) growing through all the layers of the intestine wall (P4) disposed superior to the pelvic peritoneum. The metastatic spreading into the ovaries was most frequently observed in women in the postmenopausal period. The data obtained suggest the implantation to be the most probable way of the involvement of the ovaries.