Krukenberg tumor originated from stomach in female patients is common in clinical practice, but it is still uncertain whether surgical resection of ovarian
metastases could improve the outcome. Some studies suggested that a certain group of patients could benefit from the resection of ovarian
metastases. However, conclusions were different between studies and there was no data to illustrate if certain molecular markers were associated with patients' survival. In this study, we analyzed the effects of resection of ovarian
metastases, and investigated prognostic factors in 133 patients with ovarian
metastases originated from stomach. Furthermore, we examined the expression of some cancer stem cells (CSCs) markers or related molecules in 64 ovarian
metastases specimens and analyzed the correlation between these molecules and patients' survival. We found that the median overall survival (mOS) of all 133 patients was 16 months, and "
gastrectomy" and "without
ascites" were two independent prognostic factors associated with longer survival. The mOS of the patients with
gastrectomy was longer than that of patients had not undergone
gastrectomy (19 vs. 9 months, pā=ā0.048). Patients without
ascites survived longer than those with
ascites (mOS: 21 vs. 13 months, pā=ā0.008). We also found that Sox2, CD44 or CD133 positive expression in ovarian
metastases were risk factors correlated with poor survival, and Sox2 expression was an independent prognostic
indicator. These results suggested that ovarian
metastasectomy might help to prolong the survivor of some patients with
Krukenberg tumor originated from stomach. Patients without
ascites, and with resected or resectable primary
gastric cancer lesion could get benefit from and be potential candidate for surgical treatment. The expression of Sox2 might serve as a prognostic
indicator for predicting patients' survival and be helpful for selecting patients in future.