Role of salvage cytoreductive surgery in the treatment of patients with recurrent ovarian cancer after platinum-based chemotherapy.
OBJECTIVE
The role of cytoreductive surgery, which is well established in the primary treatment for epithelial ovarian cancer, is controversial in recurrent disease. The aim of this study was to assess the clinical benefit of salvage surgical cytoreduction in patients with recurrent ovarian cancer after platinum-based chemotherapy.


METHODS
We conducted a retrospective analysis of 46 patients with recurrent epithelial ovarian cancer treated at our department between 1988 and 2003. Twenty-three patients underwent salvage cytoreductive surgery (cytoreductive group), and the other 23 patients were treated without surgery (control group).


RESULTS
Patients in cytoreductive group had a median survival of 41.7 months after recurrence, which was significantly longer than control group (18.8 months; P < 0.01). The duration of stay at home and the period oral intake was preserved were significantly longer in the cytoreductive group. In the cytoreductive group, survival was influenced by the residual disease after surgery (residual tumor diameter, <2 cm vs >2 cm; median survival, 50 months vs 35.2 months; P < 0.05). However, the number of recurrent sites (solitary vs multiple) and the lengths of treatment-free intervals after primary treatment (<6 months vs >6 months) showed no significant influence on survival.


CONCLUSIONS
The application of cytoreductive surgery might improve the prognosis of patients with recurrent ovarian cancer if the tumor was resectable. Preserved prognoses of platinum-resistant disease with short treatment-free interval demonstrated in this study suggest that the concept of maximum cytoreduction might be introduced in the treatment of recurrent disease in the future.
Matsumoto
Aya
A
Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Kyoto University School of Medicine, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan.
Higuchi
Toshihiro
T
Yura
Shigeo
S
Mandai
Masaki
M
Kariya
Masatoshi
M
Takakura
Kenji
K
Fujii
Shingo
S
D000368:Aged; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000601:surgery*; D009375:Neoplasms, Glandular and Epithelial / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000601:surgery*; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000601:surgery*; D017671:Platinum Compounds / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011379:Prognosis; D012086:Reoperation; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016879:Salvage Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D017671:Platinum Compounds