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Friend or foe? The prognostic role of endometriosis in women with clear cell ovarian carcinoma. A UK population-based cohort study

  • Gynecologic Oncology
  • Published:
Archives of Gynecology and Obstetrics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

The prognostic role of endometriosis amongst women with ovarian clear cell carcinoma (OCCC) remains debatable. The aim of this study was to ascertain the effect of endometriosis on the prognosis of OCCC.

Methods

A retrospective review of the medical records of 94 women diagnosed and treated for OCCC at a tertiary gynaecological cancer centre in the UK, spanning the period 2010–2019. Women were divided into two groups according to the presence of endometriosis. Clinico-pathological characteristics, progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were collated between the two groups.

Results

Forty-six cases of endometriosis-free OCCC (Ef-OCCC) were collated with 48 cases of endometriosis-related OCCC (Er-OCCC). There was no significant difference between the two groups regarding age (p-value = 0.2), FIGO stage (p-value = 0.8), residual disease (RD) (p-value = 0.07), adjuvant chemotherapy agent (p-value = 0.4) or chemo-resistance (p-value = 0.9). The presence of endometriosis did not significantly affect either OS or PFS. The median OS in the Ef-OCCC and Er-OCCC was 55.00 (95% CI 32.00–189.00) and 71.00 (95% CI 47.00–97.00; log rank = 1.35, p-value = 0.2) months. The median PFS in the Ef-OCCC and Er-OCCC group was 39.00 (95% CI 19.00–143.00) and 39.00 (95% CI 19.00–62.00; log rank = 0.7, p-value = 0.4) months. Survival differences between the two groups were not significant after stratification analysis for independent prognosticators.

Conclusion

Endometriosis was not independently associated with the prognosis of OCCC either in crude analysis or after stratification for stage and RD. Further larger, well-designed prospective studies are warranted to draw firmer conclusions on the intrinsic link between endometriosis and OCCC.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like thank Dr. Bindya Gupta for her invaluable support and clinical expertise. We would also like to thank the women whose details from the basis of this study and all members of the gynaecological MDT at Pan-Birmingham Gynaecological Cancer Centre.

Funding

The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Gynaecological Oncology, The Pan-Birmingham Gynaecological Cancer Centre, Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust, Dudley Rd, Birmingham, B18 7QH, UK

    Anastasios Tranoulis, Felicia Helena Buruiana, Bindiya Gupta, Audrey Kwong, Aarti Lakhiani, Jason Yap, Janos Balega & Kavita Singh

  2. Institute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK

    Jason Yap

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  1. Anastasios Tranoulis
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Contributions

Project development: AT and BG, data collection: AK, AL, FB, data analysis: AT, manuscript writing: AT, AL, AK, manuscript editing: JB, JY, KS. All authors approved the final submitted draft.

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Correspondence to Anastasios Tranoulis.

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Tranoulis, A., Buruiana, F.H., Gupta, B. et al. Friend or foe? The prognostic role of endometriosis in women with clear cell ovarian carcinoma. A UK population-based cohort study. Arch Gynecol Obstet 305, 1279–1289 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-021-06191-8

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