Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate our experience with patients affected by ovarian carcinosarcoma. Patients and Methods: During a 16-year period, data on 13 patients with ovarian carcinosarcoma were collected. They were obtained from hospital charts and follow-up visits. Survival curves were estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method and compared using the log-rank test. All tests were two-tailed with p values <0.05 considered significant. Results: Our study was conducted on 13 patients with ovarian carcinosarcoma referred to our unit, during an observation time of about 16 years (March 1994 to October 2010). An improved survival was observed in patients treated with optimal cytoreductive surgery with residual tumors <2 cm (30 vs. 5 months; p = 0.042). All patients underwent adjuvant chemotherapy based on the combination of cisplatin, epirubicin and ifosfamide (PEI) and taxol and carboplatin (TAX-CBDCA) regimen. Overall survival of the patient population was 17 months. Conclusions: Similarly to data published in the literature, we observed that malignant mixed mullerian ovarian tumors are very aggressive and are usually diagnosed at an advanced age and at an advanced stage of disease. Therefore, due to the rarity of the tumor we would like to add our series to those already published in the literature, although our treatment recommendations are actually based upon retrospective studies with a small patient population.

Objectives: It was the aim of this study to evaluate clinicopathological characteristics and prognostic factors of uterine leiomyosarcomas (LMS). Methods: Twenty-eight patients with uterine LMS were evaluated in this retrospective study. Their features and survival were analyzed by Kaplan-Meier and log-rank tests. Results: The median age of the patients was 52 years (range 25–74). Nine patients had a disease with a mitotic count <10/10 high-power fields. Twenty-one patients presented with stage I disease, 1 with stage II and 6 with stage IV. Twelve patients underwent total hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, 2 simple hysterectomy, 5 myomectomy and 9 more comprehensive surgical treatments. Adjuvant chemotherapy was administered to 16 patients, whereas chemoradiation was given only to 2 patients. Fifty percent presented with recurrence of the disease. The median overall survival was 46 months. Age, mitotic count, type of surgery, adjuvant therapy, recurrence and clinical response to chemotherapy were not found to affect survival, while the menopausal status and FIGO (International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics) stage were found to be prognostic factors. Conclusion: In our series, the menopausal state and FIGO stage were found to be prognostic factors related to survival.

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Objectives: The aim of our study was to evaluate the clinicopathological features and prognostic factors of uterine carcinosarcoma. Patients and Methods: In this retrospective study, the clinical characteristics of 44 patients with uterine MMMT were evaluated. Survival curves were estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method and compared by the log-rank test. Results: Forty-four patients with uterine carcinosarcoma were referred to our unit between 1995 and 2015. Their median age was 66.5 years. All women underwent total abdominal hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy. Twenty-five percent had omental resection. Pelvic lymphadenectomy was performed in 18.2% of the cases. Twenty-six of the patients presented with stage I/II disease, 17 with advanced stages. In 20.5% of the cases there were metastases at diagnosis. Forty women received adjuvant chemotherapy, with complete remission in 67.9% of the cases. Recurrences were observed in 27.3% of the women. Disease-free and overall survival was 27 and 103 months, respectively. The FIGO stage, histological type, tumour size, chemotherapy regimen, pelvic lymphadenectomy, and myometrial invasion did not affect survival. Conclusions: Uterine MMMT is an aggressive tumour, often diagnosed at an advanced stage and with a high rate of metastases or recurrences. Because of its rarity, its management is controversial and fixed prognostic factors cannot be defined.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) in advanced ovarian carcinoma patients unable to undergo a complete resection during primary debulking surgery. Methods: From February 2005 to October 2015, all consecutive cases of advanced-stage epithelial ovarian carcinoma at the University of Bari were retrospectively recorded. Of them, patients treated with NACT were collected. Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional hazards analyses were used to determine the predictors of survival. Results: Seventy-eight women with advanced-stage epithelial ovarian carcinoma were treated with NACT. On univariate analysis, age (p = 0.003), CA-125 serum level (0.001), response to NACT (p < 0.0001), stage of disease (p = 0.011) and optimal debulking surgery (p < 0.0001) were found to be important prognostic factors related to survival. However, on multivariate analysis, age, response to NACT, CA-125 serum level and optimal debulking surgery remained as independent poor prognostic factors for survival. The median overall and disease-free survival were 31 and 12 months, respectively. Conclusions: NACT does not compromise survival in patients with stage IIIC and IV ovarian cancer compared to patients treated with primary surgery. Prospective randomized trials comparing NACT to conventional treatment are needed to determine the quality of life and cost/benefit outcomes for women presenting advanced epithelial ovarian cancer.