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The role of interval debulking surgery in ovarian cancer

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Abstract

The mainstay of treatment for advanced ovarian cancer is the multimodality approach of debulking surgery and paclitaxel— platinum chemotherapy. The size of residual lesions after primary surgery remains the most important prognostic factor for survival. Optimal primary debulking surgery can be performed in approximately 40% of patients and up to 80% if it is done by gynecologic oncologists, but sometimes at the cost of considerable morbidity and even mortality. Based on a trial conducted by the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer, optimal as well as suboptimal interval debulking surgery increases overall (P=0.0032) and progression-free survival (P=0.0055). However, not all patients who have undergone suboptimal primary debulking surgery seem to benefit from interval debulking surgery. Preliminary data from the Gynecologic Oncology Group interval debulking study (GOG-152) indicate that, if the gynecologic oncologist makes a maximal effort to resect the tumor, patients who have undergone suboptimal debulking surgery probably gain little benefit from interval debulking surgery.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Oncology, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, PO Box 2040, 3000, CA Rotterdam, Netherlands

    Maria E. L. van der Burg MD, PhD & Ignace Vergote MD, PhD

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  1. Maria E. L. van der Burg MD, PhD
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  2. Ignace Vergote MD, PhD
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van der Burg, M.E.L., Vergote, I. The role of interval debulking surgery in ovarian cancer. Curr Oncol Rep 5, 473–481 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11912-003-0008-8

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