Secondary Cytoreduction in Epithelial Ovarian Cancer Recurrence A Perspective from a Regional Cancer Center in India

OBJECTIVE: To assess the impact of secondary cytoreduction on survival in our patients with recurrent epithelial ovarian cancer. STUDY DESIGN: Between January 2001 and December 2006 all patients who underwent surgical resection of documented epithelial ovarian cancer recurrence were identified from the hospital tumor registry database. Criteria for inclusion were disease-free interval >6 months after completion of primary treatment with clinical and/or radiographic findings suggestive of recurrence. Patients with borderline histology and those operated for malignant bowel obstruction were excluded. All patients were followed until August 2008 or death. Survival analysis was done using the Kaplan-Meir method. RESULTS: Forty-eight patients, aged 28-68 years (mean, 50) satisfied the inclusion criteria. The majority had advanced disease at initial diagnosis. The most common histology was serous. Optimal cytoreduction was attained in 29 patients (60.4%). Estimated 5-year overall survival was 32.25% CONCLUSION: The present data show that a macroscopically complete salvage surgical cytoreduction is possible for most patients with recurrent epithelial ovarian cancer and confers a definite survival benefit to the patient. (J Reprod Med 2009;54:506-510)