Evaluation of prognostic factors and treatment modalities in ovarian cancer patients with brain metastases

Objective. The objective of this study is to evaluate the impact of different clinical variables and treatment modalities on survival in patients with brain metastases from ovarian carcinoma. Methods. Methods included: (1) retrospective chart review of all patients with ovarian cancer and brain metastases from 1986 to 2000 at Roswell Park Cancer Institute and (2) Medline search was performed to extract data from all published reports with three or more cases of ovarian cancer with brain metastases. Cox regression analysis, Kaplan-Meier test, and log rank test were used to calculate survival and compare the impacts of clinical variables and treatment modalities. Results. Fifteen patients with brain metastases out of 1042 women with ovarian carcinoma were identified from our institution, an incidence of 1.4%. The median time from initial diagnosis to detection of brain metastases was 22 months. Patients who were not treated after brain metastasis had a median survival of 0.5 month versus 6 months with therapy. In the subgroup of patients treated with a combination of radiation, surgery, and chemotherapy, the median survival was 22 months. Literature analysis combined with our data generated 124 patients. The only clinically significant variable impacting survival was the presence or absence of additional distant recurrence with median survivals of 3 and 8 months, respectively (P = 0.005). Among patients who received treatment, the combination of radiation and surgery with or without chemotherapy appears to be beneficial, with a median survival of 20 months (P < 0.001). Conclusion. Patients with brain metastases from ovarian cancer without any evidence of disease in other sites appear to benefit from aggressive combined treatment with external radiation and surgery with or without chemotherapy with a median survival of 20 months.