Carcinosarcoma of the Ovary: Analysis of 13 Cases and Review of the Literature

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate our experience with patients affected by ovarian carcinosarcoma. Patients and Methods: During a 16-year period, data on 13 patients with ovarian carcinosarcoma were collected. They were obtained from hospital charts and follow-up visits. Survival curves were estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method and compared using the log-rank test. All tests were two-tailed with p values <0.05 considered significant. Results: Our study was conducted on 13 patients with ovarian carcinosarcoma referred to our unit, during an observation time of about 16 years (March 1994 to October 2010). An improved survival was observed in patients treated with optimal cytoreductive surgery with residual tumors <2 cm (30 vs. 5 months; p = 0.042). All patients underwent adjuvant chemotherapy based on the combination of cisplatin, epirubicin and ifosfamide (PEI) and taxol and carboplatin (TAX-CBDCA) regimen. Overall survival of the patient population was 17 months. Conclusions: Similarly to data published in the literature, we observed that malignant mixed mullerian ovarian tumors are very aggressive and are usually diagnosed at an advanced age and at an advanced stage of disease. Therefore, due to the rarity of the tumor we would like to add our series to those already published in the literature, although our treatment recommendations are actually based upon retrospective studies with a small patient population.

Ovarian Cancer, Version 1.2016, NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology

“…Patients with stage I to IV MMMT may be treated as per epithelial ovarian cancer (see OV-3; page 1138). 221,[225][226][227][228][229][230] The intraperitoneal chemotherapy regimen described for ovarian cancer can be used for select patients with MMMT. For the 2016 update, the NCCN Panel also added 3 new postoperative chemotherapy options for patients with stage I to IV MMMT: cisplatin/ifosfamide (category 2A), carboplatin/ifosfamide (category 2A), and paclitaxel/ ifosfamide (category 2B).…”

Anti-EFNA4 Calicheamicin Conjugates Effectively Target Triple-Negative Breast and Ovarian Tumor-Initiating Cells to Result in Sustained Tumor Regressions

“…As a consequence, there are currently no treatment guidelines for TNBC (2,3). In ovarian cancer, platinum-based therapy has provided modest benefit, and the recent approval of bevacizumab marked the first improvement in treatment in 15 years (4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9).…”

Role of p53 Pathway Alterations in Uterine Carcinosarcomas (Malignant Mixed Müllerian Tumors)

“…Apart from the uterine corpus, CSs may develop in various organs, including the uterine cervix [24,25,26], ovary [27,28,29,30], fallopian tube [31], vagina [32,33], Douglas pouch [34] or even the peritoneum [35,36]. Uterine CS arising in a patient with uterus didelphys has been described [37] as well as a rare presentation of scalp metastasis from uterine CS [38].…”