title: Relationship between time interval from primary surgery to the start of taxane- plus platinum-based chemotherapy and clinical outcome of patients with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer: results of a multicenter retrospective Italian study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess whether the interval from primary surgery to the start of taxane- plus platinum-based chemotherapy has any impact on the clinical outcome of advanced ovarian cancer patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study was conducted on 313 patients who underwent surgery followed by taxane- plus platinum-based chemotherapy. The median follow-up of survivors was 30.7 months (range, 6 to 109 months).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The 25%, 50%, and 75% quantiles of intervals from surgery to the start of chemotherapy were 11, 21, and 31 days, respectively. After the sixth cycle, 102 patients achieved a pathologic complete response at second-look surgery and 98 obtained a clinical complete response but were not submitted to second-look surgery. Taking into consideration the best assessed response, a complete (either clinical or pathologic) response was found in 200 patients. Residual disease (< or = 1 v > 1 cm; P < .0001) and ascites (absent v present; P = .003) were independent predictive factors for achieving a complete response, whereas residual disease (P = .001) and stage (IIc to III v IV; P = .04) were independent prognostic variables for survival. Conversely, statistical analyses failed to detect significant differences in complete response rates and survival among patients with an interval from surgery to chemotherapy shorter than 11 days, 12 to 21 days, 22 to 31 days, and longer than 31 days.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The interval from surgery to the start of taxane- plus platinum-based chemotherapy seems to have neither a predictive value for response to treatment nor a prognostic relevance for survival of advanced ovarian cancer patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy. a.gadducci@obgyn.med.unipi.it
authors.forename: Angiolo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gadducci
authors.forename: Enrico
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sartori
authors.forename: Fabio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Landoni
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zola
authors.forename: Tiziano
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Maggino
authors.forename: Angelo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Maggioni
authors.forename: Stefania
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cosio
authors.forename: Eleonora
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Frassi
authors.forename: Maria Teresa
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: LaPresa
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fuso
authors.forename: Renza
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cristofani
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols; D016190:Carboplatin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D002945:Cisplatin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009375:Neoplasms, Glandular and Epithelial / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery; D017239:Paclitaxel / Q000008:administration & dosage; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D016190:Carboplatin; D017239:Paclitaxel; D002945:Cisplatin