Oncologic and obstetric outcomes of early-stage epithelial ovarian cancer patients who underwent fertility-sparing surgery (a retrospective study).

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess the long-term oncologic and obstetric outcomes of women with epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) who underwent fertility-sparing surgery (FSS).

METHODS: A total of 68 patients observed between March 2007 and July 2021 were included in this retrospective study. Unilateral salpingo-oophorectomy (USO) and uterine preservation with staging surgery were the main procedures for FSS. Disease-free, overall survival, and obstetric outcomes were measured as primary outcomes.

RESULTS: The median age of the patients was 30.5 years. The median follow-up time was 60.5 months. Disease recurrence occurred in 15 (22.1%) of the patients. Five-year disease-free survival and overall survival (OS) percentages were 75.6% and 83.3% respectively, for all stages. The FIGO stage was the only significant factor that affected OS (p: 0.001). Twenty-three patients tried to conceive, and 15 (65.2%) patients became pregnant. Twelve (80%) pregnancies reached term and resulted in 15 live births. Chemotherapy administration and surgical intervention (cystectomy or USO) showed no difference in pregnancy results (p: 0.806 and 0.066, respectively).

CONCLUSION: Fertility preservation is safe for invasive EOC at early stages for women in the reproductive era. Disease recurrence and OS results are similar to standard treatment at early stages with decent obstetric outcomes.