Study Shows Survival Advantage of Primary Cytoreductive Surgery

(April 26, 2018) The International Journal of Gynecological Cancer recently featured a retrospective study on the treatment patterns of women with advanced high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma (HGSC). Of the 852 women with HGSC included in the study, 53% of them underwent primary cytoreductive surgery (PCS), or surgery before chemotherapy to remove as much of the tumor as possible, and 47% of them underwent neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT), or chemotherapy that takes place before surgery in order to reduce the size of the tumor first.

The 5 year overall survival (OS) for women treated with PCS was 3.89 years while women treated with NACT was 2.48 years. Although patients in both groups had a better OS when there was 0mm residual tumor, PCS patients who had 1 – 9mm residual had outcomes similar in OS as patients who underwent NACT with 0 mm residual.

The study concludes by recommending that women speak with their gynecologic oncologists about the possibility of being treated with PCS as opposed to NACT due to the better OS rate.