Prognostic value and therapeutic implications of pleural carcinosis and malignant pleural effusion in advanced epithelial ovarian cancer

Abstract

Aim: To demonstrate the prognostic value of pleural carcinosis/effusion in a cohort of patients with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) and the associated therapeutic implications. Patients and Methods: Overall, data for 388 patients with EOC with confirmed malignant pleural effusion (MPE) or pleural carcinosis were retrospectively analyzed. Exclusion criteria were nonepithelial ovarian malignancies and presence of other comorbidities associated with pleural effusions. Results: The prognosis after the occurrence of MPE during the EOC in relapsed cases was poor with an overall survival of 9.9 months. In the multivariate analysis, the time point of the manifestation of the pleural effusion (p<0.001), platinum sensitivity (p=0.003), performance status (p=0.045) and presence of ascites (p=0.004) were significant prognostic factors for overall survival. Conclusion: Even in this less favorable collective, well-established EOC prognostic factors were associated with a significantly better overall survival. This suggests that the overall behavioral pattern of the disease has strong similarities in patients with and without pleural effusion or carcinosis and merits an equally high therapeutic effort.