title: Salvage whole-abdominal irradiation following chemotherapy failure in epithelial ovarian carcinoma.
abstract: During the period 1977 to 1985, 12 patients with FIGO stage II and III epithelial ovarian carcinoma failed to achieve a pathologic complete response with chemotherapy and underwent salvage whole-abdominal irradiation (WAXRT). Six of these patients had gross residual disease present at the time of irradiation, and three (50%) were unable to complete the planned radiotherapy. All eventually failed in the treatment field; their 5-year actuarial survival and local control rates were zero. The other six were irradiated without residual macroscopic disease. Five of the six (83%) were able to complete WAXRT as planned without prolonged delays. The 5-year actuarial survival and local control rates for this group were 21 and 25%, respectively. The actuarial laparotomy rate to relieve bowel obstruction following WAXRT was 40% at 2 years. The results from this and other series indicate that salvage WAXRT is not effective for patients irradiated with macroscopic tumor. However, WAXRT appears to be potentially curative for a small but significant percentage of patients irradiated without gross disease, although the risk of significant complications is high.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, University of California, San Francisco 94143.
authors.forename: D E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Linstadt
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Stern
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Quivey
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Leibel
authors.forename: C G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Lacey
mesh_terms: D000005:Abdomen; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000628:therapy*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D004848:Epithelium; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000628:therapy*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016019:Survival Analysis
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents