Patterns of extension as a guide to radiation therapy in the management of ovarian neoplasms in children

Sixteen cases of childhood malignant ovarian neoplasms of varied histology and stages were reviewed with special reference to the patterns of disease extension within the pelvis and abdomen. All patients had initial surgery elsewhere before referral to Memorial Hospital. Two patients had distant metastases (bone and lung). None of the other 14 girls had disease restricted to the pelvis. The first extension in 11 was to sites within the abdominal cavity as well as to the pelvis and in three to the abdomen without pelvic involvement. Total abdominal irradiation would have been required to encompass all known disease‐bearing areas in these 14 girls.