Sixty-six cases of carcinoma of the gallbladder treated at The Memorial Hospital, Danville, Virginia, and the Medical College of Virginia, Richmond, were staged according to depth of invasion and spread and graded histologically; the findings were correlated with survival. Results from the two hospitals were essentially identical and the survival figures correlated well with 399 reported cases in the medical literature which could be staged according to the depth of invasion. A simple method combining staging and histologic grading of cancer of the gallbladder, which can easily be applied to all cancers of the gallbladder removed surgically and which should prove useful in the management of this disease, is described. Essentially all of the carcinomas of the gallbladder in the series were incidental findings at surgery for gall stones which may explain a relatively high proportion of superficial carcinomas which are cured by the removal of the gallbladder.

a b s t r a c tObjective. There is a need to develop and validate biomarkers for treatment response and survival in tuboovarian high-grade serous carcinoma (HGSC). The chemotherapy response score (CRS) stratifies patients into Gynecologic Oncology 154 (2019) 441-448 complete/near-complete (CRS3), partial (CRS2), and no/minimal (CRS1) response after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT). Our aim was to review current evidence to determine whether the CRS is prognostic in women with tubo-ovarian HGSC treated with NACT.Methods. We established an international collaboration to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis, pooling individual patient data from 16 sites in 11 countries. Patients had stage IIIC/IV HGSC, 3-4 NACT cycles and N6-months follow-up. Random effects models were used to derive combined odds ratios in the pooled population to investigate associations between CRS and progression free and overall survival (PFS and OS).Results. 877 patients were included from published and unpublished studies. Median PFS and OS were 15 months (IQR 5-65) and 28 months (IQR 7-92) respectively. CRS3 was seen in 249 patients (28%). The pooled hazard ratios (HR) for PFS and OS for CRS3 versus CRS1/CRS2 were 0·55 (95% CI, 0·45-0·66; P b 0·001) and 0·65 (95% CI 0·50-0·85, P = 0·002) respectively; no heterogeneity was identified (PFS: Q = 6·42, P = 0·698, I2 = 0·0%; OS: Q = 6·89, P = 0·648, I2 = 0·0%). CRS was significantly associated with PFS and OS in multivariate models adjusting for age and stage. Of 306 patients with known germline BRCA1/2 status, those with BRCA1/2 mutations (n = 80) were more likely to achieve CRS3 (P = 0·027).Conclusions. CRS3 was significantly associated with improved PFS and OS compared to CRS1/2. This validation of CRS in a real-world setting demonstrates it to be a robust and reproducible biomarker with potential to be incorporated into therapeutic decision-making and clinical trial design.• The Chemotherapy response score (CRS) assesses histological effect in ovarian cancer after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT). • The CRS is associated with progression-free and overall survival.• CRS could provide useful information to estimate a patient's probability of early vs. late relapse.• The CRS is an appealing primary endpoint in clinical trials as a surrogate for survival as it can be measured earlier. • We recommend the CRS be incorporated as an endpoint in clinical trials of novel therapeutic agents that have a NACT arm.

Background:There are limited data on surgical outcomes in gynaecological oncology. We report on predictors of complications in a multicentre prospective study.Methods:Data on surgical procedures and resulting complications were contemporaneously recorded on consented patients in 10 participating UK gynaecological cancer centres. Patients were sent follow-up letters to capture any further complications. Post-operative (Post-op) complications were graded (I–V) in increasing severity using the Clavien-Dindo system. Grade I complications were excluded from the analysis. Univariable and multivariable regression was used to identify predictors of complications using all surgery for intra-operative (Intra-op) and only those with both hospital and patient-reported data for Post-op complications.Results:Prospective data were available on 2948 major operations undertaken between April 2010 and February 2012. Median age was 62 years, with 35% obese and 20.4% ASA grade ⩾3. Consultant gynaecological oncologists performed 74.3% of operations. Intra-op complications were reported in 139 of 2948 and Grade II–V Post-op complications in 379 of 1462 surgeries. The predictors of risk were different for Intra-op and Post-op complications. For Intra-op complications, previous abdominal surgery, metabolic/endocrine disorders (excluding diabetes), surgical complexity and final diagnosis were significant in univariable and multivariable regression (P<0.05), with diabetes only in multivariable regression (P=0.006). For Post-op complications, age, comorbidity status, diabetes, surgical approach, duration of surgery, and final diagnosis were significant in both univariable and multivariable regression (P<0.05).Conclusions:This multicentre prospective audit benchmarks the considerable morbidity associated with gynaecological oncology surgery. There are significant patient and surgical factors that influence this risk.

Surgery with utilisation of cytoreductive procedures to achieve complete clearance should be offered to all patients even after ≥5 cycles if R0 can be achieved. R1 cytoreduction has questionable value in those receiving ≤4 cycles and no value in those receiving ≥5 cycles.