Factors determining ultra-short-term survival and the commencement of active treatment in high-grade serous ovarian cancer: a case comparison study

BACKGROUND: Despite improvements in median survival some patients with advanced ovarian cancer die within 100 days of diagnosis; the reasons for which remain poorly understood. Here we investigate if ultra short-term survival can be explained by patient characteristics or treatment pathways. METHODS: A nested case comparison study was used to examine differences between patients with high grade serous ovarian/fallopian tube cancer who died within 100 days (n = 28) compared to a comparison group of patients matched for histology and including any survival greater than 100 days (n = 134). RESULTS: Cases and comparison patients had similar ages, BMI, ACE-27, deprivation indices, and distribution of disease on CT. There were no significant delays in time to diagnosis or treatment (p = 0.68) between the groups. However, cases had lower serum albumin, haemoglobin and higher platelet counts than matched comparison patients (p < 0.0001) and a worse performance score (P = 0.006). CONCLUSION: Patients who die rapidly after a diagnosis of ovarian cancer are only slightly older and have similar pre treatment frailty compared to patients whose survival approaches the median. However they do appear to undergo greater physiological compromise as a result of their disease. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12885-021-08019-9.