Malignant Ascites in Female Patients : A Seven-Year Review
SARIKAPAN WILAILAK, M.D.*,
VASANT LINASMITA,M.D.,F.A.C.O.G.*,
SONGSRI SRIV ANNABOON, M.D.**
Affiliation : * Divison of Gynecologic Oncology, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology,
** Department of Pathology, Facutly of Medicine, Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10400, Thailand.
AbstractMalignant ascites is common in various types of advanced cancer. Our objective was to
determine the primary site and the clinical characteristics of female patients presenting with
malignant ascites as well as evaluating the outcome. The authors carried out a retrospective study
of 118 cases of malignant ascites diagnosed from January 1986 to December· 1992 in female
patients. Of the 118 cases, the primary site of the neoplasms was gynecologic in 65 cases (cervix
4, endometrium 6, ovary 52, fallopian tube 3) = 55.1 per cent, non-gynecologic 29 cases (GI 18,
lymphoma 8, breast 2, kidney I) = 24.6 per cent, and unknown 24 cases = 20.3 per cent. The
mean age of patients in the gynecologic, non-gynecologic and unknown primary site was 50.4,
45.5 and 59.3 years respectively. Surgery combined with chemotherapy was the main treatment
in the gynecologic group, whereas, supportive and symptomatic management was the main treat-
ment in the unknown primary group. Treatments in non-gynecologic group were supportive and
symptomatic, surgery and chemotherapy. Survival was longer in gynecologic than in the non-
gynecologic and the unknown primary groups. The most common primary site of malignant
ascites in females was ovarian cancer. In malignant ascites in females caused by gynecologic
neoplasms, the prognosis as measured by survival was better than in the non-gynecologic and the
unknown primary groups.
Keywords : Malignant Ascites - Female - Seven-year Review
All Articles
Download
