Malignant Brenner Tumor of the Ovary: One Single Institute Experience and a Review of the Literature

INTRODUCTION: Malignant Brenner tumors (MBT) of the ovary are rare diseases, representing 1% of all ovarian cancers and 3-5% of Brenner tumors. They carry a poor prognosis. They generally affect women during the perimenopausal and postmenopausal periods. The standard treatment is surgery; however, the indication of adjuvant chemotherapy remains controversial. The present study aims to report our experience in the treatment of MBT of the ovary, to better characterize this disease.
METHODS: In this study, a retrospective case series involving four patients diagnosed with MBT of the ovary and treated between 2006 and 2014.
RESULTS: Four cases of MBT of the ovary were diagnosed over a seven-year period. The mean age of our patients was 59.3±11.1 years. Three patients were in the menopause period. The tumor was staged as IC in one case, IIC in one case, and IIIC in two cases of the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics classification. All patients underwent surgery, followed by adjuvant chemotherapy. Three patients underwent a loco-regional recurrence that occurred respectively, after nine months in one patient and 11 months in two patients. The treatment was based on chemotherapy combined with surgery in one case. Two patients presented distant metastasis. The treatment consisted of chemotherapy and surgery. The median follows up period was 49.0 (14.0-64.0) months.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: The treatment approach of MBT of the ovary is not well established since its scarcity and poor prognosis. Thus, more case series and meta-analysis should be conducted.