The safety of fertility and ipsilateral ovary procedures for borderline ovarian tumors

Objective To explore the optimal treatment options for women with borderline ovarian tumors (BOTs). Materials and Methods The medical records of consecutive patients with BOTs in two academic institutions were retrospectively collected. The pertinent data, including clinicopathological characteristics and, treatment and prognostic information were evaluated. Results A total of 281 cases of BOTs were included in this analysis. For the entire series, the 5- year disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) rates were 91.8% and 98.5%, respectively. In the multivariate analysis, reservation of the ipsilateral ovary (HR: 0.104 [95% CI, 0.036-0.304], p = 0.000) and FIGO stage II-III (HR: 6.811 [95% CI, 2.700-17.181], p = 0.000) were the independent risk factors for recurrence. Ovarian surface involvement (HR: 64.996 [95% CI, 4.054-1041.941], p = 0.003) was the only independent prognostic factor for OS. Lymphadenectomy and adjunct chemotherapy had no significant impact on patients' recurrence and survival (recurrence: p = 0.332 and 0.290, respectively, survival: p = 0.896 and 0.216, respectively). Conclusions Fertility-sparing surgery with healthy ovarian preservation seems safe and feasible for young women who prefer fertility-sparing treatment. Ovarian cystectomy to conserve the affected ovary/ovaries without ovarian surface involvement may be cautiously performed under fully informed consent for young women with bilateral BOTs who strongly prefer fertility-sparing treatment and have no evidence of infertility. However, long-term follow-up is necessary due to the relapse susceptibility of the ovary.