Significance of the resection of ovarian metastasis from colorectal cancers

Background The incidence of ovarian metastases from colorectal cancers (CRCs) has been reported to occur in 3–8% of CRC patients, and the prognosis for patients is very poor. We assessed the clinicopathological characteristics of CRC patients with ovarian metastasis and the significance of the resection of ovarian metastases. Methods We retrospectively analyzed 22 CRC patients with ovarian metastases. Synchronous ovarian metastases occurred in 8 patients and metachronous ovarian metastases occurred in 14 patients. Peritoneal dissemination was observed in nine patients. Results The mean follow‐up period was 45.3 months. The overall survival at 3 years following diagnosis of ovarian metastases is estimated to be 51.1% and 43.8% at 5 years. The overall survival at 5 years in the group of patients without peritoneal disseminations was 77.9%, which is significantly longer than that of the patients with disseminations (0%) (P = 0.0009). An R0 resection of metastatic sites was achieved in 15 patients and was associated with a significant increase in survival time (P = 0.0002). Conclusions Our study shows that aggressive resection of ovarian metastases from CRCs is associated with better overall survival. Peritoneal dissemination is an adverse prognostic factor, but R0 resection significantly improves the overall survival of these patients. J. Surg. Oncol. 2010;102:582–587. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.