Primary carcinoma of the ovary: a review of 150 cases, with an appraisal of the fallopian tube as a pathway of spread.

One hundred and fifty cases of primary ovarian carcinoma were reviewed to assess the relationship between survival and secondary involvement of the fallopian tube. Five-year crude survival rates were calculated according to stage of disease, histological type and method of treatment.Frequency of involvement of the tube in 30 cases so examined increased with anatomical extension of disease, but this route of spread was not considered significant. Invasion occurred chiefly in serous or peritubular lymph spaces. Intraluminal emboli of tumour cells were found in only three specimens, while submucosal spread was seen once. Invasion of the tubular musculature was never demonstrated. Endometrial deposits were rare. Postoperative radiation therapy after simple surgical procedures not only gave survival rates comparable to those obtained after radical surgery alone, but also controlled metastatic disease for at least three years and increased the five-year survival in Stage III disease.