Prognostic Value of the Age-Adjusted Charlson Comorbidity Index (ACCI) on Short- and Long-Term Outcome in Patients with Advanced Primary Epithelial Ovarian Cancer

Background We evaluated the prognostic impact of the age-adjusted Charlson Comorbidity Index (ACCI) on both postoperative morbidity and overall survival (OS) in patients with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) treated at a tertiary gynecologic cancer center. Patients and Methods Exploratory analysis of our prospectively documented tumor registry was performed. Data of all consecutive patients with stage IIIB–IV ovarian cancer who underwent primary cytoreductive surgery (PDS) from January 2000 to June 2016 were analyzed. Patients were divided into three groups, based on their ACCI: low (0–1), intermediate (2–3), and high (≥4), and postoperative surgical complications were graded according to the Clavien–Dindo classification (CDC). The Fisher’s exact test, log-rank test, and Cox regression models were used to investigate the predictive value of the ACCI on postoperative complications and OS. Results Overall, 793 consecutive patients were identified; 328 (41.4%) patients were categorized as low ACCI, 342 (43.1%) as intermediate ACCI, and 123 (15.5%) as high ACCI. A high ACCI was significantly associated with severe postoperative complications (CDC 3–5; odds ratio 3.27, 95% confidence interval 1.97–5.43, p < 0.001). Median OS for patients with a low, intermediate, or high ACCI was 50, 40, and 23 months, respectively ( p < 0.001), and the ACCI remained a significant prognostic factor for OS in multivariate analysis ( p = 0.001). The same impact was observed in a sensitivity analysis including only those patients with complete tumor resection. Conclusion The ACCI is associated with perioperative morbidity in patients undergoing PDS for EOC, and also has a prognostic impact on OS. The potential role of the ACCI as a selection criteria for different therapy strategies is currently under investigation in the ongoing, prospective, multicenter AGO-OVAR 19 trial.