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A retrospective review of women age ≤ 40 years with epithelial ovarian carcinoma was undertaken to determine whether patient age and tumor grade are independent prognostic factors for survival, to investigate the survival rate for young women with ovarian carcinoma, and to characterize these young women in terms of reproductive capability.

The tumor registry of the Massachusetts General Hospital was used to identify cases of ovarian carcinoma diagnosed between January 1980 and July 1996. Patient records and pathology were reviewed. Survival rates were calculated by the Kaplan–Meier method and Cox proportional hazards models were used to determine the independent effect of each variable on survival.

Ninety‐two tumors epithelial tumors were identified with 46 (50%) classified as borderline. In the univariate analysis, stage (P < 0.001), grade (P < 0.001 …