Hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy after extensive CRS for advanced EOC is feasible with acceptable morbidity and mortality. Complete cytoreduction may improve survival in highly selected patients. Additional follow-up and further studies are needed to determine the effects of HIPEC on survival.

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The aim of this study is to demonstrate the hypothesis that the experience of the surgeon is sufficient to partially compensate for the lack of haptic feedback of the robotic system da Vinci Si HD (Intuitive (®) ). Twenty-five international surgeons belonging to different areas of surgical specialization were divided into two groups of investigation: experts and non-experts in the use of da Vinci Platform. This allocation was made on the basis of the following criteria: the number of performed procedures, the number of robotic working days and the number of true console hours. All participants underwent a specific test to assess their ability to recognize the thickness of custom-made membranes, without the availability of haptic feedback. After the performance of the surgeons, score was given according to an appropriate evaluation system (time, preciseness, force of tension and finding a metallic object). The analysis of the performances of participants provided the following results: an average score of 8.87 for the experts compared to 3.57 of non-experts with significant difference (P < 0.05). Other parameters of interest as the average time to conduct the test showed a result of 28.8 s for experts and 71.3 s of non-experts. After our results, a significant difference between the two groups in terms of performance was found. Our hypothesis that the expertise ability of the experts might partially overcome the lack of haptic feedback was confirmed. Probably visual feedback may play a role.

Many biologic prognostic markers are available for patients with breast cancer, and considerable interest has been devoted to confirm preliminary evidence of their role as indicators of treatment response. It remains to be assessed whether such markers are predictors of response only to first-line or also to successive therapies. Proliferative activity, defined by the 3H-thymidine labeling index (TLI), was determined on the primary lesion from 76 patients at time of first diagnosis. At relapse, patients underwent chemotherapy as absolute (48 cases) or relative (28 cases) first-line treatment, and their clinical response was analyzed in relation to the TLI of the primary lesion. The objective clinical response was significantly higher for rapidly (47%; CL, 33-61%) than for slowly proliferating tumors (15%; CL, 1-29%). These findings held true also when adjusted for metastatic site, previous treatment, chemotherapy regimen administered, and hormone receptor status. However, the direct relation between cell proliferation and benefit from chemotherapy held true only when such a treatment was used as an absolute first-line approach. Cell proliferation of primary lesions represents a consistent indicator of response to chemotherapy over time. Previously administered regimens, at least hormone therapy, could alter the proliferation-related chemosensitivity profile of individual tumors.

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