Outcomes of extensive surgeries in combination treatment of stage III–IV ovarian cancer

Abstract

Objective: to evaluate short-term and long-term outcomes of lymph node dissection in patients with stage III–IV ovarian cancer.

Materials and methods. This retrospective study included patients with stage III–IV ovarian cancer who have undergone either complete or optimal cytoreduction. Patients in the experimental group additionally had lymph node dissection, whereas patients in the control group had surgery without lymph node dissection. We evaluated 3‑year relapse-free survival (primary outcome measure), 3‑year overall survival, incidence of intraoperative and postoperative complications, and frequency of lymph node lesions.

Results. The study included 272 patients: 43 women in the experimental group and 229 women in the control group. Intraoperative complications were significantly more common in patients who had lymph node dissection compared to those who had cytoreductive surgery alone (37.2 % vs 16.6 % respectively; р = 0.0001). The incidence of postoperative complications did not vary significantly between the groups (27.9 % in the experimental group vs 16.2 % in the control group; р = 0.128). Thirty-three patients (76.7 %) were found to have metastasis in the lymph nodes excised. The three-year overall survival rate was 82.6 % among patients who had lymph node dissection and 75.7 % among patients who had no lymph node dissection (р = 0.306). The three-year relapse-free survival rate was 26.2 % in the experimental group and 38.4 % in the control group (р = 0.858).

Conclusions. Systemic lymph node dissection does not improve long-term outcomes and increases the incidence of intraoperative complications in patients with stage III–IV ovarian cancer undergoing complete or optimal cytoreduction.