Early stage primary ovarian mucinous carcinoma: Outcome-based clinicopathological study in comparison with serous carcinoma

OBJECTIVE: To compare clinicopathological characteristics and survival rates between patients with primary ovarian mucinous carcinoma and those with primary ovarian serous carcinoma. METHODS: This retrospective study reviewed archival tumour specimens, originally diagnosed as primary ovarian mucinous carcinoma, using refined histological criteria. All patients were contacted to establish survival status. Clinicopathological characteristics and patient survival data were compared with a group of control patients with primary ovarian serous carcinoma. RESULTS: Of the 33 patients originally diagnosed with primary ovarian mucinous carcinoma, this diagnosis was only confirmed in 18. Primary ovarian mucinous carcinoma was more commonly associated with early International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics tumour stages and low-grade histology than primary ovarian serous carcinoma. Patients with primary ovarian mucinous carcinoma had a significantly higher overall 5-year survival rate than those with primary ovarian serous carcinoma (12/12 [100%] versus 14/24 [58%]). Kaplan–Meier survival plots demonstrated that patients with primary ovarian mucinous carcinoma had a survival advantage over patients with primary ovarian serous carcinoma. CONCLUSIONS: Primary ovarian mucinous carcinomas are frequently low-grade, stage I tumours and have an excellent prognosis.