CLINICOPATHOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF PATIENTS WITH SYNCHRONOUS PRIMARY OVARIAN AND ENDOMETRIAL CANCERS

Purpose: Synchronous primary endometrial and ovarian cancers are infrequent. The objective of this study is to evaluate clinicopathological characteristics of synchronous endometrial and ovarian cancers treated in our institution.Materials and Methods: The clinicopathological characteristics of 12 patients with synchronous ovarian and endometrial cancers treated at Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, Lahore, Pakistan, from July 2005 to July 2015, were reviewed retrospectively in depth from hospital database. The WHO committee classification was used for the histologic determination and staged based on International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) staging. Results: The median age at the time of diagnosis was 50 years (range 23–66 years). The incidence of synchronous primary endometrial and ovarian cancers was 2.01% in patients with endometrial cancer. A total of seven patients were menopausal (58%) and eight patients were nulliparous (66%); the median body mass index (BMI) was 29 kg/m2 (range, 20–38). Abnormal uterine bleeding was the most common presenting symptom. According to FIGO stage, 10 cases of endometrial were Stage I/II (84%) and two cases were Stage III (16%). Of the ovarian cancers, nine cases were Stage I/II (83.3%) and two cases were Stage III (16.7%). Endometrial cancer was the main pathological type in uterine carcinoma (86%) followed by serous carcinoma (14%), and similarly, for ovarian cancer, endometrial was the most common pathology (67%) followed by serous/clear cell (16%) and mucinous (16.7%). Most endometrial and ovarian primaries in our series were Grade I and II tumours, 83% and 66%, respectively. 8 patients (66%) had similar histology in both primaries. All patients underwent surgical intervention. Only one patient did not receive any post-operative adjuvant therapy. 10 patients received platinum-based adjuvant chemotherapy and six patients received adjuvant radiotherapy. Conclusion: Synchronous primary endometrial and ovarian cancers are infrequent and distinct set of patients. Abnormal per vaginal bleed was the most common symptom which helped in early detection. Majority of the patients belong to concordant endometrial histology, low grade, had younger age and high BMI. Treatment should be tailored to the stage, histology and grade of the individual tumours. Key words: Endometrial cancer, ovarian cancer, synchronous tumours