Cytoreductive Surgery for Ovarian Cancer: A Review of Literature and Analysis of the Experience of the Clinic for Thirteen Years

Abstract

The article presents the world experience of cytoreductive surgery for ovarian cancer (OC) according to literature data and also estimates the thirteen-year experience of the Oncogynecology Department of the N.N. Petrov National Medical Research Center of Oncology in the treatment of OC patients. Materials and methods: In order to analyze the results of treatment for thirteen years it is proposed a comparative evaluation of results of primary and interval cytoreductive operations in 213 patients with OC. For this purpose all patients depending on the start of treatment were divided into two groups: a group of patients with an advanced OC where treatment started with neoadjuvant chemotherapy and a group of patients with an advanced OC where primary cytoreductive surgery was performed at the start of treatment. In these groups the long-term results of treatment were studied: platinum-free interval and life expectancy. Results: When studying the effect of a number of neoadjuvant chemotherapy courses on long-term results of treatment it was established that the best results for platinum-free interval were obtained in a 3-course group of neoadjuvant chemotherapy - platinum-free interval was 9.6 months compared to 6.9 and 4.7 months in groups of 4 and> 5 courses although the differences in the groups did not reach statistically significant rates (p = 0.337). The increase in a number of postoperative chemotherapy courses in our study also statistically was unreliable and had a negative effect on survival: patients from the neoadjuvant chemotherapy group with> 3 courses of postoperative chemotherapy had 9.6 months versus 11.7 months in patients with 3 courses p = 0.787); life expectancy was 35.6 months compared to 30.9 months respectively (p = 0.968). The same tendency was also observed in patients from the primary cytoreduction group: in the group of patients with> 3 courses of postoperative chemotherapy platinum-free interval was 10.2 months compared to 16.3 months in patients with 3 courses (p = 0.312); life expectancy was 54.4 months compared with 48.7 months respectively (p = 0.435). The Kaplan-Meier survival estimation revealed a statistically significant improvement in life expectancy index for patients from the primary cytore-duction group (median survival time 53.7 months, 95 % CI 41.9-73.6 months) compared to patients in the neoadjuvant chemotherapy group (median life expectancy 33.0 months, 95 % CI 20.6-42.0 months, p <0.000001).