Résumé

Introduction: Ovarian cancer is an uncontrolled and abnormal proliferation of cells in the female sex gland. It can affect all structures of the ovary, particularly the cells of the surface lining. The epithelium covering the ovaries is the source of 90% of ovarian tumors, whether benign, borderline, or malignant. Ovarian cancer is relatively rare but serious. To describe the epidemiological, diagnostic, therapeutic and survival aspects of patients operated on for epithelial ovarian cancer at the University Hospital of Brazzaville. Methodology: Monocentric descriptive longitudinal study, conducted from October 31, 2012, to October 31, 2021, at the University Hospital of Brazzaville, including patients who underwent initial surgery for histologically confirmed epithelial ovarian cancer. The variables studied were sociodemographic, clinical, paraclinical, therapeutic and survival related. The original date corresponded to the date of surgery. The endpoint date was set at October 31, 2021. The event studied was death and the endpoint was overall survival. Results: During the study period, 85 patients with an ovarian tumor suspected of malignancy were operated on. Forty-five (53%) of these tumors were cancers, of which 40 (88.9%) were epithelial ovarian cancers. The patients had a median age of 49 years (40-59) and no financial means (n=14 or 42.4%). They were mostly multiparous (42.4%), postmenopausal (51.5%) with a preserved general condition (54.6%). The diagnosis was late in 72.2% of cases, made at FIGO stages III and IV. The most performed surgical procedure was non-conservative total hysterectomy associated with omentectomy and appendectomy (30.3%). The postoperative tumor residue was macroscopic (R2) in most cases (69.7%). The median time to obtain histology was 4 weeks (2-8). Serous cystadenocarcinoma was the most common histological type (60.6%). The median time to initiation of adjuvant chemotherapy was 8 weeks (5-12) combining Carboplatin and Paclitaxel (73.3%). At the endpoint date, 26 (78.8%) patients had died, five (15.1%) were alive and two (6.1%) were lost to follow-up. The median overall survival was 16 months and the recurrence-free survival rates at one, three, and five years were 59%, 14%, and 3%, respectively. Conclusion: Epithelial ovarian cancer is a reality at the University Hospital of Brazzaville. Any ovarian tumor during the menopausal period should raise suspicion of cancer and be subjected to anatomopathological study. Due to its low survival, the management of epithelial ovarian cancer must be collegial and multidisciplinary.

Mot-clés :

Epithelial Cancer, Ovary, Diagnosis, Treatment, Survival, Brazzaville