Consolidation treatment of ovarian carcinoma, stage III, at complete surgical remission after induction chemotherapy

In a large prospective randomized trial, consolidation treatment with chemotherapy and radiotherapy were compared with no treatment in a series of 172 patients with ovarian carcinoma stage III, with surgically complete remission after induction chemotherapy. In a subgroup with pathologic complete remission (pCR) progression-free survival was significantly better in the radiotherapy group compared with both the chemotherapy (p = 0.048) and untreated control group (p = 0.039). The number of recurrences was also lowest in the radiotherapy group. In the subgroup with microscopic residual carcinoma there were no significant differences in survival between chemotherapy and radiotherapy treated patients. Early and late radiation reactions were recorded.