Comparison of overall and patterns of care in patients with a malignant ovarian germ cell tumor by age in the United States: a National Cancer Database (2004-2016) analysis

Background Women aged >= 40 years diagnosed with a malignant ovarian germ cell tumor are more likely to have poor outcomes than their younger counterparts (aged 15-39 years). Objective We used the National Cancer Database (NCDB) to evaluate patterns of care and overall survival for individuals diagnosed with one of the four most common histologic subtypes of malignant ovarian germ cell tumor by age group. Methods We identified women aged 15-90 diagnosed with ovarian germ cell tumors in the NCDB (2004-2016). Logistic regression was used to compare patterns of care, demographic, and disease characteristics by age group. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to evaluate associations between a range of demographic, clinical, and treatment characteristics with overall survival. Results A total of n=2998 patients who were diagnosed with one of the four most common histologic subtypes (immature teratoma, dysgerminoma, yolk sac tumor, and mixed germ cell) of ovarian germ cell tumor were included in the analysis. Patients aged >= 40 years diagnosed with ovarian germ cell tumors were more likely to have co-morbidities, a bilateral tumor, higher stage of disease, receive chemotherapy only, and have a residual tumor after resection as compared with patients aged <40 years. Moreover, women aged >= 40 years had the highest risk of death (reference: 15-24 year olds; HR=5.37, 95% CI 3.76 to 7.66) after adjustment for demographic characteristics, tumor histology, and treatment received. In stratified analyses, women aged >= 40 years had significantly worse overall survival at each disease stage and histologic subtype. Conclusion Findings suggest that women aged >= 40 years who are diagnosed with ovarian germ cell tumors have worse overall survival than those aged <40, independent of stage, disease characteristics, and treatment. Our study highlights the need for future research to better understand reasons for poorer outcomes in women aged >= 40 years.