Real-life data on clinical characteristics, treatments and outcomes of patients with newly diagnosed advanced-stage ovarian cancer: an observational study from Belgium.

OBJECTIVES: Data about the clinical management of patients with ovarian cancer (OC) in real-world settings are scarce. This study documents baseline characteristics, treatments, and clinical outcomes in a real-world population of women with newly diagnosed advanced-stage OC in Belgium.
METHODS: This observational study, conducted at four hospitals in Belgium, retrospectively enrolled 120 women with FIGO (International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics classification) stage III or IV high-grade serous or endometrioid OC diagnosed between 2007 and 2018. Treatment outcomes, response to therapy, and patient survival were followed up until 20 months after diagnosis.
RESULTS: Of 113 patients with a clinical response assessment, 49.6% were diagnosed with a stage IV disease, 53.1% underwent interval debulking surgery, 98.2% received any type of chemotherapy, and 35.4% received bevacizumab. Deleterious mutations in breast cancer susceptibility genes (BRCA1/BRCA2) were detected in 12/84 (14.3%) patients. After primary or interval debulking surgery, 50.0% and 60.0% of stage III, and 66.7% and 80.0% of stage IV patients had no visible residual disease, respectively. Following chemotherapy, 59.3% of patients had complete clinical response and/or no visible residual disease. Until month 20 of follow-up, 37.2% of patients were disease-free.
CONCLUSION: Until 2018, surgical resection followed by first-line chemotherapy and bevacizumab use comprised the cornerstone therapy for newly diagnosed FIGO stage IV OC in Belgium. Clinical response and progression-free survival rates were relatively high. The patients' BRCA1/BRCA2 status was insufficiently characterized, likely reflecting the lack of perceived relevance of BRCA1/BRCA2 mutations for OC treatment before adoption of targeted therapies in clinical practice.