[Analysis of the incidence and prognostic factors of port-site metastasis following laparoscopic surgery in patients with ovarian epithelial carcinoma].

Objective: To investigate the incidence of port-site metastasis (PSM) after laparoscopic surgery in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer and prognostic factors influencing outcomes in those with abdominal wall PSM. Methods: Clinicopathological and follow-up data of 22 ovarian epithelial cancer patients diagnosed with abdominal wall PSM after laparoscopic surgery, who were treated in the Sichuan Cancer Hospital between May 2014 and July 2023, were retrospectively collected. A retrospective analysis of PSM characteristics and prognostic factors influencing outcomes, was conducted in these patients. Results: (1) Between May 2014 and July 2023, a total of 369 ovarian cancer patients with a history of laparoscopic surgery performed at other hospitals were admitted. Among them, 24 cases (6.5%, 24/369) were diagnosed with tumor lesions at the abdominal wall port sites via postoperative pathological examination, with a median interval time of 25.5 days (interquartile range: 19.5, 32.0 days) after laparoscopic surgery. Of these, 22 cases with complete clinicopathological and follow-up data were included in this study. (2) The age of the 22 PSM patients was (53.0±8.6) years, and the median follow-up time was 37.6 months (24.7, 63.4 months). Surgical-pathological staging revealed stage Ⅰ-Ⅱ disease in 4 cases and stage Ⅲ-Ⅳ disease in 18 cases. Histopathological differentiation included 5 cases of well-to-moderately differentiated tumors and 17 cases of poorly differentiated tumors. Pathological subtypes comprised 11 cases of high-grade serous adenocarcinoma, 5 cases of low-grade serous adenocarcinoma, and 6 cases of clear cell carcinoma or cystadenocarcinoma. Lymph node status was as follows: negative for lymph node metastasis (n=16), positive (n=5), and no lymphadenectomy performed (n=1). Postoperative residual disease was categorized as no macroscopic residual disease (n=13), residual disease ≤1 cm (n=7), and residual disease >1 cm (n=2). (3) Following secondary cytoreductive surgery combined with postoperative adjuvant therapy, the median progression-free survival and overall survival (OS) time of the patients were 8.8 months (4.6, 14.3 months) and 27.7 months (15.5, 38.4 months), respectively. Univariate Cox regression analysis demonstrated that surgical-pathological stage, histopathological differentiation grade, and lymph node metastasis status were significantly associated with OS time in patients with abdominal wall PSM (all P<0.05). In contrast, age, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status score, histopathological subtype, preoperative serum cancer antigen 125 level, presence of residual lesions after surgery and poly adenosine diphosphate ribose polymerase inhibitor usage showed no significant correlation with OS time (all P>0.05). Multivariate Cox regression analysis identified surgical-pathological stage (HR=4.579，95%CI：1.111-18.866；P=0.035) and histopathological differentiation grade (HR=5.307，95%CI：1.042-27.031；P=0.045) as independent risk factors for OS time in PSM patients. Conclusion: Abdominal wall PSM following laparoscopic surgery for epithelial ovarian cancer maybe adversely affect patient prognosis, particularly in cases with advanced stage and poorly differentiated tumors, which warrants significant clinical attention.