Times and sites of relapses after negative second look in advanced epithelial ovarian cancer.
In the present work the Authors analyse the role and significance of second-look laparotomy in the management of epithelial ovarian cancer. Eighty-three patients with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer (stage III-IV) followed at the Institutes of Gynecology of Padua and Pisa Universities underwent a negative second-look at a median time of 6 months after first surgery. The incidence of relapse after the negative second-look was 45.8% and the mean time of relapse was 27.4 months. Advanced surgical-pathological stage, the presence of residual disease > 2 cm and serous histotype are risk factors for relapse after a negative second-look. These data confirm that, because of its poor prognostic value, a negative second-look laparotomy should not influence the choice of second line chemotherapy and, consequently is no longer routinely performed in our Institutes.
Maggino
T
T
Gynaecologic Institute, University of Padua, Italy.
Gadducci
A
A
Romagnolo
C
C
Fanucchi
A
A
Fioretti
P
P
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000556:secondary* / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D012086:Reoperation; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013997:Time Factors