[Epithelial ovarian tumors in adolescence: a study of clinical features and treatment].

Objective: To study the clinical feature, diagnosis and treatment of epithelial ovarian tumors in adolescent patients.

Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed on 29 patients of epithelial ovarian tumors between the age of 13 and 19 during the period of 1983 - 2002 in Peking Union Medical College Hospital. Twenty of the cases were with benign tumors, four with borderline, and five with malignant tumors.

Results: The average age was 16.5 years old. The majority of patients presented with abdominal pain, abdominal distention and a large pelvic mass. The histological types included mucinous tumor in twenty-two cases, serous tumor in six, and endometroid tumor in one case. Among the nine cases with borderline or malignant tumors, eight were at stage I and one at stage IIIc. Of benign tumor group, an abdominal unilateral salpingo-oophorectomy was performed on nine cases. A laparoscopic cystectomy was undertaken in 11 patients. The nine cases with borderline or malignant tumors underwent cytoreductive surgery and comprehensive staging surgery; fertility was preserved for eight of them. A cisplatin combined chemotherapy was given to four patients with malignant tumors. All of the patients were without evidence of disease recurrence during the follow-up.

Conclusions: The incidence of epithelial ovarian tumors during adolescence increases with age. Mucinous tumor is the most common histological type in adolescent patients. A laparoscopic cystectomy could be considered for most benign patients. The therapeutic strategy should be individualized, and surgical approach should consider both cure and preservation of fertility in malignant cases.