Some die too soon

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

https://tinyurl.com/8tye27az

         Overall survival from ovarian cancer is gradually improving by about 2% each year. In Australia women with ovarian cancer have a 5-year’s survival rate of around 50%. There is however a sub-group of women who have very short survival after diagnosis, with 13% of women in this study dying within 100 days from diagnosis.

         Previous studies have suggested that the reasons for such a short survival include advanced stage, delay in diagnosis, older age, and general frailty. Included in this study were 208 women all treated at the same centre of excellence and of whom 28 died within 100 days following initial diagnosis, which meant that none of these short-term survivors completed first-line treatment.

         Findings from the study show that there is no difference in age, stage or frailty between short-term survivors and those who live longer. There were differences in blood parameters with significant changes to platelets, white blood cell count and albumin levels.