Background: To evaluate the patterns of lymphatic spread in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) macroscopically confined to the ovary and to determine risk factors for lymph node metastasis.
Materials and methods: All patients with clinically apparent stage IA/B/C EOCs who underwent staging surgery between January 2003 and February 2013 were retrospectively identified.
Results: Two hundred and thirty-six (n = 236) consecutive patients were operated for primary epithelial ovarian carcinoma. Sixty-two of these patients (26.2 %) who underwent a comprehensive staging procedure including pelvic and paraaortic lymphadenectomy were diagnosed with tumors confined to one or two ovaries (stage IA/B/C). Of these 62 patients, 17 (27.4 %) had upstaged disease and 8 (12.9 %) had lymph node metastasis. Tumor histology was serous in 25 patients (40.3 %), mucinous in 23 patients (37 %), endometrioid in 9 patients (14.5 %), and clear cell in 5 patients (8 %). Positive lymph node status was found in 20 % (5/25) of those with serous histology while this rate was only 8.1 % (3/37) in those with non-serous disease. Although the presence of ascites was not associated with an increased risk of lymph node involvement (p = 0.24), positive peritoneal cytology (p = 0.001) and grade 3 disease (p = 0.001) were significant predictors of lymph node involvement.
Conclusion: All patients diagnosed with EOC macroscopically confined to the ovary should be considered for comprehensive staging surgery including pelvic and paraaortic lymphadenectomy.