Surgical staging and adjuvant chemotherapy in the management of patients with adult granulosa cell tumors of the ovary.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the role of surgical staging and adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with adult type granulosa cell tumor (GCT) of the ovary.

METHODS: Patients were divided into those with early-stage (stages I-II, n=93) and advanced-stage (stages III-IV, n=13) GCT and analyzed separately in this retrospective study.

RESULTS: Of the 93 patients with early-stage GCT, 30 were completely staged and 25 underwent lymph node dissection. After surgery, 17 patients received adjuvant chemotherapy with bleomycin/etoposide/cisplatin (BEP). None had lymph node metastasis. Completely staged patients had no recurrence or deaths. However, recurrences were observed in 9 of 63 patients (14.3%) who did not undergo complete staging, with four (6.3%) dying due to disease. The 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) rates of groups with and without complete staging were 100% and 84%, respectively (P=0.037). Adjuvant chemotherapy was not significantly associated with DFS (P=0.193). All patients with advanced-stage GCT underwent optimal cytoreduction and received adjuvant chemotherapy with BEP. None of the 6 patients who completed 6 cycles of BEP had recurrence, whereas 5 of the 7 patients (71.4%) who received fewer than 6 cycles of BEP had recurrences and 3 (42.9%) died due to disease. The 5-year DFS rates of these two groups were 100% and 50%, respectively (P=0.022), with cycles of chemotherapy being the only significant factor for DFS in patients with advanced-stage GCT.

CONCLUSIONS: Complete surgical staging is recommended, but lymph node removal is not recommended for early-stage GCT. Optimal debulking followed by six cycles of BEP chemotherapy is recommended for advanced-stage GCT.