Squamous cell carcinoma arising in mature cystic teratoma of the ovary.

Treatment results of 26 patients with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) arising in mature cystic teratoma of the ovary were analyzed. Four nulliparous patients with stage Ia tumors underwent conservative salpingo-oophorectomy. Following surgery, 2 patients had successful pregnancies. The remaining 7 patients with stage Ia tumors were observed after hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy. Fifteen patients with stage Ic-IV tumors underwent cytoreductive surgery followed by cis-platinum-based chemotherapy with or without sequential radiotherapy. The mean survival was 63.9 months. The overall actuarial disease-free survival at 2 years was 69%, and by stage was as follows: stage I, 100% (13/13); stage II, 100% (2/2); stage III, 30% (3/10); and stage IV, 0% (0/1). A significant difference in disease-free survival was noted in stage (P = 0.0001). Optimal versus suboptimal operation was associated with a median Kaplan-Meier survival of 65 months versus 34.8 months, with actuarial disease-free survival at 2 years of 60 and 0%, respectively (P = 0.0210). Our study shows that 67% (16/24) of the patients had SCC antigen levels exceeding 2 ng/ml, which by stage was as follows: stage I, 5/11 (45%); stage II, 1/2 (50%); stage III, 9/10 (90%); and stage IV, 1/1(100%). After completion of treatment, all 8 patients with recurrent lesions had reelevated SCC antigen levels in series SCC antigen monitoring. In conclusion, positive prognostic factors of disease-free survival were optimal cytoreduction and lower FIGO stage. We suggest that multimodality therapy, including aggressive cytoreduction followed by cis-platinum-based chemotherapy with or without sequential radiotherapy, is recommended. In addition, we suggest that serum SCC antigen monitoring may be helpful in early detection of cancer recurrence.