The prognostic significance of preoperative leukocytosis in epithelial ovarian carcinoma: A retrospective cohort study

Objective

Preoperative leukocytosis is known to be a negative prognostic factor for several gynecologic malignancies, but its relationship with epithelial ovarian carcinoma (EOC) is unknown. We sought to evaluate the prognostic implications of preoperative leukocytosis for women with EOC.

Methods

We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients who underwent primary debulking surgery and adjuvant platinum-based chemotherapy for EOC between January 1993 and October 2011. Associations between leukocytosis and recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) were determined by univariate analyses. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression was used to identify independent prognostic factors for RFS and OS.

Results

Of 155 women, 23 (14.8%) had leukocytosis and 132 (85.2%) did not have leukocytosis. RFS and OS were significantly shorter for women with leukocytosis than for women without leukocytosis (P = 0.009 and P < 0.0001, respectively). The mortality rate was also higher among women with leukocytosis (P < 0.0001). Multivariate analysis revealed that preoperative leukocytosis (hazard ratio [HR]: 2.15; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.55–4.41; P = 0.009), advanced stage (HR: 3.12; 95% CI: 1.44–6.75; P = 0.004), and optimal cytoreduction (HR: 0.38; 95% CI: 0.14-0.70; P = 0.031) were independent prognostic factors for RFS. Additionally, preoperative leukocytosis was independently associated with decreased OS (HR: 7.66; 95% CI: 2.78–21.16; P < 0.0001).

Conclusions

Among women with EOC, preoperative leukocytosis might be an independent prognostic factor for RFS and OS. A larger-scaled, prospective study is needed to verify these results.