Improved prognosis of ovarian cancer in The Netherlands during the period 1975-1985: a registry-based study.

Survival of 568 patients with ovarian cancer, diagnosed in 1975-1985, was studied by means of a population-based registry in the Southeast Netherlands. Patients diagnosed in the period 1981-1985 had a significantly better prognosis than patients diagnosed in 1975-1980. This improvement of survival declined with advancing age of the patients. In women younger than 60 years, mortality from ovarian cancer decreased, while incidence remained stable. Apart from the effect of new treatment methods, consisting of more extensive tumor reduction and cisplatin-based combination chemotherapy, advances in supportive care as well as a trend toward earlier diagnosis, possibly in combination with an increasing proportion of less malignant tumors, may explain the improvement in prognosis. Survival was strongly related to stage at diagnosis and to age, the prognosis of younger patients being more favorable. Patients with tumors of either germ cell or stromal origin generally survived longer than patients with epithelial tumors, but this difference disappeared after adjustment for stage and age. Patients still alive after 6 years did not have a survival significantly different from that of the general female population.