A National Cancer Center research team has confirmed that secondary tumor reduction surgery can improve survival in recurrent ovarian cancer.
There have been various opinions about the therapeutic effect of surgery in the treatment strategy for recurrent ovarian cancer, including targeted therapy, immunotherapy, and chemotherapy. Even in the recent reliable results of the phase 3 randomized study, there were differences of opinion about the therapeutic effect of surgery for recurrent ovarian cancer.
The standard treatment for ovarian cancer is chemotherapy and surgery, and depending on the indication, hospitals can use angiogenesis inhibitors or Poly ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP). However, 50 to 80 percent of patients experience recurrence even after such active treatment, and opinions vary depending on the patient's condition regarding the treatment strategy in case of recurrence.
The research team, led by Professor Lim Myong-cheol, performed a meta-analysis of 36 studies involving 2,805 patients with recurrent ovarian cancer. The researchers confirmed that the mortality rate decreased as the complete or optimal tumor resection rate increased.
Also, after statistically correcting various variables in 57 studies involving 4,408 patients with recurrent ovarian cancer, the team performed a linear regression analysis using the study data.
As a result, the team confirmed that the complete or optimal tumor resection rate increased by 10 percent, and the survival period increased by 8.97 and 7.04 percent, respectively.
"When physicians completely resected visible lesion through secondary surgery, it improved the survival rate of recurrent ovarian cancer," Professor Lim said. "Ovarian cancer is a highly heterogeneous cancer composed of cancer cells with various characteristics, and complete surgical resection is important as there are limitations in systemic treatment such as chemotherapy."
Lim added that medical professionals should select patients who can perform such surgery well and perform surgery. In addition, it is most important for patients to find experienced medical staff and not give up and actively treat patients even if they experience recurrence.
The study results were published in the February edition of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.