Stage I grade III endometrial carcinoma: evaluation of treatment and recommendations for management

A review of 36 patients with Stage I Grade III endometrial carcinoma has been presented. Patients were treated with preoperative external beam megavoltage for a total of 5400 rad in 6 weeks, followed by total abdominal hysterectomy and bilateral salpingoorophorectomy 6 weeks after completion of irradiation. Fifteen of the 36 patients have died or have disseminated disease at present. These 15 patients had large amounts of residual tumor with deep muscle invasion in the resected specimen following the preoperative external beam megavoltage irradiation and hysterectomy. Consideration needs to be given to the use of adjuvant multiagent chemotherapy for those patients with gross residual disease in the resected specimen, in attempt to improve survival.     

Serum squamous cell carcinoma antigen in the monitoring of radiotherapy treatment response in carcinoma of the cervix

In this study, squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCC) was detected in 96 of 157 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix and the percentage of patients with raised SCC levels increased with the stage of disease (P less than 0.01). The use of serial SCC assays and cervical biopsy histology during the course of radiotherapy to predict tumor response to irradiation was assessed. In patients who were given external irradiation before intracavitary radium, a high SCC level or the presence of viable tumor cells in the biopsy was found to be of no predictive value. However, at completion of radiotherapy, i.e., after intracavitary radium application, patients with persistently high SCC levels had a significantly higher incidence of residual tumor than patients whose SCC levels returned to normal (P less than 0.01). In 60% of patients with a persistently high SCC level, viable tumor was found in the cervical biopsy at the end of radiotherapy. On the other hand, only 5.4% of patients whose SCC level returned to normal had residual tumor.     

Treatment of stage I adenocarcinoma of the endometrium by hysterectomy and irradiation: analysis of complications

Twelve of 304 patients (4%) treated with surgery and adjuvant irradiation for endometrial carcinoma experienced a serious complication. The complication rate for patients whose irradiation consisted of an implant alone was only 1% (two of 199), if the implant was preoperative, but was 12% (three of 26) if the implant was postoperative. For patients who received external pelvic irradiation as part of their adjuvant therapy, the incidence of complications was 8.8% (seven of 79) and the timing (preoperative versus postoperative) had no effect. There was, however, a significant correlation of the complication rate with an increasing dose of external irradiation to the whole pelvis: For doses of 3000 rad or less, it was 2% (five of 264) but was 18% (seven of 40) for doses in excess of 3000 rad. These data suggest that the safest form of adjuvant irradiation for adenocarcinoma of the endometrium is a preoperative implant, and that adding external pelvic irradiation to the preoperative implant will significantly increase the complication rate if the external dose to the central pelvis exceeds 3000 rad.     

Salvage radiotherapy for carcinoma of the ovary following chemotherapy

Following single-agent or combination chemotherapy, 9 patients with epithelial carcinoma of the ovary had elective second-look laparotomy. Macroscopic intraperitoneal disease was resected in 4 patients. Therefore, after the laparotomy, all 9 patients had only biopsy-proven, microscopic residual disease, and they received whole abdominopelvic irradiation. Hematological tolerance was satisfactory, with only 2 patients developing asymptomatic thrombocytopenia. Mild gastrointestinal reactions, while frequent during radiotherapy, did not interrupt treatment in any patient. After follow-up from 12 to 34 months (median 16 months) [corrected], 2 patients died of cancer, 2 were alive with cancer, 3 were alive without clinical recurrence, and 2 were alive without biopsy-proven recurrence. Bowel complication occurred in 4 patients: 2 developed intestinal obstruction due to recurrent tumor, 1 developed subacute bowel obstruction which spontaneously resolved, and 1 patient required bowel resection because of a radiation complication. This study indicated that after single- or multiple-drug chemotherapy, most patients could complete the course of whole abdominopelvic irradiation. Gastrointestinal complications could be secondary to radiation damage or to recurrent tumor. While whole abdominopelvic irradiation was not an effective second-line treatment, some long-term survivors could still be expected.     

Whole abdominal and pelvic irradiation in patients with minimal disease at second-look surgical reassessment for ovarian carcinoma

Aggressive cytoreductive surgery followed by combination chemotherapy for stage III ovarian carcinoma has resulted in a significant percentage of complete clinical responses. However, 30-50% of patients with no clinical evidence of disease are found to have residual carcinoma at second-look surgical reassessment. Because recent reports have indicated a high degree of effectiveness utilizing abdominal and pelvic irradiation as primary therapy for ovarian carcinoma with small residual disease, the authors treated eight patients found to have residual disease of less than 1 cm at second-look reassessment with either open field or split field abdominal and pelvic irradiation. All eight patients had initially undergone aggressive cytoreductive surgery and seven of the eight patients had received multidrug chemotherapy. Patients were treated either at the National Cancer Institute or the Naval Hospital Bethesda both with and without intraperitoneal radiation sensitizers. Fifty percent of the patients required early termination of therapy due to myelosuppression. All eight patients have recurred and three have died. Six of the eight patients have required major surgical procedures for gastrointestinal complications. Based on this experience, we cannot advocate this form of therapy in patients with minimal residual ovarian carcinoma following second-look surgical reassessment.     

Stage II invasive adenocarcinoma of the ovary: results of treatment by whole abdominal radiation plus pelvic boost versus pelvic radiation plus oral melphalan chemotherapy

Thirty-one patients with histologically confirmed FIGO Stage II adenocarcinoma of the ovary were prospectively treated in two sequential studies: 3000 rad of whole abdominal radiation therapy over 6 weeks by an open field technique followed by 2000 rad pelvic boost over 2 weeks (group 1, 16 patients, 1972-1974) or 5000 rad of pelvic radiation therapy over 5 weeks followed by a year of melphalan chemotherapy at a dose of 0.2 mg/kg/day for 5 days every 4 weeks (group 2, 15 patients, 1975-1982). Abdominal radiation included the entire peritoneal cavity and both diaphragms; the liver was not shielded. Only 2 patients had residual disease greater than 2 cm. No group 1 patients underwent pretherapy restaging laparoscopy prior to radiation or second look laparotomy after treatment. Eighty percent of group 2 patients underwent restaging laparoscopy (10) or staging laparotomy (2) prior to radiation. All group 2 patients underwent second look procedures if no evidence of disease. No patient developed intestinal complications secondary to radiation requiring surgery. Eighty-one percent of group 1 patients and to date 40% of group 2 patients developed recurrences. Size of residual disease prior to radiation, histologic grade, and substage (IIA, B, or C) did not correlate with recurrences. Five-year estimated survival was 40 and 50% for groups 1 and 2, respectively. Three thousand rad of wole abdominal radiation plus 2000 rad pelvic boost or 5000 rad pelvic radiation plus melphalan did not appear to improve survival over surgery alone. The role of radiation therapy in Stage II ovarian cancer remains unclear.     

Bladder and rectal complications following radiotherapy for cervix cancer

One-hundred and thirty-two patients with cervix carcinoma who were treated with whole pelvis irradiation and two intracavitary applications had bladder and rectal dosimetry during brachytherapy with contrast agents placed into the bladder and rectum prior to orthogonal simulator radiographs. Doses were computer calculated at points A and B, F (bladder), R1 (rectum), and R2 (rectosigmoid). Late occurring bladder and rectal complications were graded on a severity scale of 1 to 3, and 14% had grade 2 or 3 injuries (9% developed fistulas). Statistical evaluation of the data showed that severe bladder and rectal injuries occur more commonly in stage IIIA and IIIB disease and in those receiving high external beam doses (5000 rad +). Analysis of variance tests revealed a significant correlation of brachytherapy dose to points R1 and R2 with severe rectal injuries but there was not a correlation of dose to F with bladder injuries. Nor was there correlation of injuries with dose to point A or the milligram-hour dose. We conclude that our technique for rectal dosimetry is adequate but that an improved technique of bladder dosimetry is needed. Also, when combining whole pelvis irradiation with two intracavitary applications (4000 rad to point A), the whole pelvis dose should probably not exceed 4000-4500 rad.     

Tumor cell kinetics in uterine cervical carcinoma following irradiation

15 cases of squamous cell carcinoma of uterine cervix which received radiotherapy were investigated in order to elucidate tumor cell kinetics following irradiation. The DNA content of Pararosanillin-Feulgen stained tumor cells were measured by fluorescence cytophotometry which provided great precision in the field of microspectrophotometry. Besides the cell preparation, tumor cells were precisely identified under blue light excitation (405nm). It is of great value to obtain a reliable DNA histogram of tumor cells with this method. In both groups of radioresistant cases (n = 3) and radiosensitive cases (n = 12), the same trend in cell kinetics was noted until 1400 rad, such as G2-block, endoreduplication, and a decrease in the 2c cell (G0 + G1) population. Most of the residual cells at 3000 rad of radioresistant cases showed little irradiation-induced morphological change. These cells were proved to be 2C cells in this study. This indicates that these radioresistant cells were non-cycling cells (G0). The mean value for the 2C cell population before irradiation was 65% in radioresistant cases and 46% in radiosensitive cases, respectively. The former contained a larger proportion of 2C cells than the latter. Clinically, the 2C cell population before irradiation may be used as a useful parameter to forecast radiosensitivity.     

Advanced minimal residual ovarian carcinoma: abdominopelvic irradiation following combination chemotherapy

Seventeen patients with advanced ovarian carcinoma who had minimal residual intraabdominal disease after six months of combination chemotherapy were treated with abdominopelvic irradiation. All 17 patients had residual intraabdominal tumor nodules with a cross-sectional diameter of less than 2 cm. Eleven had only microscopic residual disease at the time of irradiation. Fourteen have relapsed at a median of eight months after the completion of radiotherapy. All but two had intraabdominal recurrences. Myelosuppression was common and severe, causing marked delays or discontinuation of radiotherapy in ten of 17 patients. Patients receiving the entire planned dose of radiotherapy had longer disease-free survival (14 months median) than did patients receiving only partial doses (seven months median). However, six of seven patients receiving full dose irradiation have relapsed. Abdominopelvic irradiation in the schedule employed here is poorly tolerated and is not an effective salvage treatment in patients with limited or microscopic residual tumor following initial combination chemotherapy.     

Intraperitoneal chromic phosphate P 32 as salvage therapy for persistent carcinoma of the ovary after surgical restaging

From 1977 through 1984, 23 patients with persistent epithelial carcinomas of the ovary received intraperitoneal instillation with chromic phosphate P 32 suspension as salvage therapy after second- or third-look laparotomy. Patients received a median 10 cycles of chemotherapy before chromic phosphate P 32. Disease consisted of microscopic residual only in 10 patients (43%), macroscopic residual that was completely resected in eight (35%), and macroscopic residual disease in which the largest diameter was less than 0.5 cm in five patients (22%). Ten patients are free of disease at 13 to 94 months after chromic phosphate P 32 salvage therapy. Life table survival is 75% at 2 years and 57% at 4 years, with a disease-free survival rate of 54% at 2 years and 27% at 4 years. Patients with no gross residual disease had median disease-free survival of 27 months versus 9 months for patients with macroscopic residual disease (p greater than 0.1). Only three patients (13%) developed surgical bowel complications related to chromic phosphate P 32. Compared with previous studies, intraperitoneal chromic phosphate P 32 as salvage therapy for patients with minimal residual ovarian carcinoma defined at secondary surgical evaluation results in comparable survival and fewer complications than does salvage abdominopelvic irradiation and should be considered as an option to further chemotherapy in selected patients.     

Whole abdominal radiation as salvage therapy for epithelial ovarian cancer

Thirty patients found to have residual epithelial ovarian cancer at second-look laparotomy were treated with whole abdominal radiation as salvage therapy. Dosage fractions were 120 rad per day until 3000 rad were delivered, then the pelvis was boosted to 5000 rad at 180 rad per day. Fourteen patients (47%) completed therapy without interruption and seven (23%) completed therapy with interruptions due to myelosuppression ranging from one to four weeks. Therapy was not completed in nine patients (30%). Four of 16 patients (25%) with microscopic residual disease before radiation remain alive and free of disease at 22 to 41 months. Two of six (33%) patients with minimal (less than or equal to 5 mm) residual disease remain alive and free of disease 19 to 40 months after radiation treatment. Patients with residual nodules greater than 5 mm uniformly did poorly. Patients who progressed on primary chemotherapy had a median survival of seven months, compared with more than 38 months for chemotherapy responders. Chronic bowel morbidity was a significant problem, with 30% of patients surviving at least four months from completion of radiation requiring laparotomy for small bowel obstruction. These preliminary results suggest that whole abdominal radiation may be useful in the management of patients who have responded to primary chemotherapy, but the benefit is confined to those patients who have minimal or microscopic disease at second-look laparotomy.     

The significance of residual tumor after preoperative pelvic irradiation for stage II endometrial carcinoma

The prognostic significance of residual endometrial carcinoma in the hysterectomy specimen after preoperative radiotherapy is controversial. Sixty-two patients with stage II endometrial carcinoma were treated with a standardized program of preoperative radiotherapy, followed in six weeks by an extrafascial hysterectomy. Twenty patients (32%) had no residual carcinoma in their hysterectomy specimens and 42 (68%) had residual carcinoma. There were no significant clinical, surgical, or pathologic differences between patients with or without residual carcinoma. Patients with no residual carcinoma had a 25% recurrence rate and a 53% actuarial five-year survival rate. Patients with residual carcinoma had a 21% recurrence rate and a 78% actuarial five-year survival rate. The presence of residual endometrial carcinoma in the hysterectomy specimen does not imply a compromised prognosis in patients with stage II endometrial carcinoma treated by the described method.     

Recurrent cervical carcinoma after radical hysterectomy

The characteristics of recurrent carcinoma following radical hysterectomy and pelvic lymphadenectomy for cervical carcinoma are not well known. Disease recurrence was noted in 27 of 249 patients (11%) with stage IB cervical carcinoma who were treated with a primary surgical approach between January 1962 and December 1984. Fourteen recurrences (52%) occurred within 1 year of surgery, and 24 (89%) within 2 years. Patients with pelvic node metastases or adenocarcinoma had a significantly higher recurrence rate than did patients with negative nodes (33% vs 8%) or with squamous carcinoma (22% vs 8%). Seventeen patients (63%) had disease recurrence in the pelvis or vulva and 12 of these patients had recurrences within 1 year. Eight patients developed asymptomatic pelvic or vulvar recurrences, and all were diagnosed within 1 year. Ten patients (37%) developed recurrences outside the pelvis and 8 of these experienced recurrence after 1 year. Successful treatment after recurrence was independent of clinical or histopathologic parameters except site of recurrence. Eight of 15 patients (53%) who were treated with irradiation for a recurrence in the pelvis or vulva are free of disease 10 to 126 months (median, 48 months) after recurrence. Since irradiation can aid in salvaging patients with recurrent cervical carcinoma confined to the pelvis following radical surgery, clinical vigilance for this site of recurrence is emphasized.     

Evaluation of postoperative radiotherapy by the moving strip technique for malignant ovarian tumor

As a treatment for malignant ovarian tumor, whole abdominal irradiation including the upper abdomen is more useful. Between December, 1975 and November, 1980, we additionally applied whole abdominal irradiation by the moving strip technique (1,600 rad) after operation and whole pelvic irradiation (3,000 rad) to 43 cases of malignant ovarian tumor (serous cystadenocarcinoma-24, mucinous cystadenocarcinoma-7, mesodermal mixed tumor-3, clear cell carcinoma-2, endometrioid carcinoma-2, malignant granulosa cell tumor-1, malignant Brenner tumor-1 and metastatic tumor-3). Out of 10 cases with complete resection of the tumor, nine patients are surviving without recurrence, and also some advanced cases with incomplete operation have shown a remarkable reduction in the tumor size. As to complications, diarrhea during lower abdominal irradiation as well as nausea and vomiting during upper abdominal irradiation were observed, but no characteristic changes were observed upon checking peripheral blood, liver and renal function; thus most cases completed the whole therapy without interruption. Some cases that had appeared to respond favorably course showed a rapid recurrence after 1.5-2 years, so four cases were given repeated irradiation, but results were not so satisfactory. Further study of radiation and combinations with other therapies is now being tried.     

Long-Term Survival with Whole Abdominopelvic Irradiation in Platinum-Refractory Persistent or Recurrent Ovarian Cancer

The purpose of this study is to retrospectively evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of whole abdominopelvic irradiation (WAI) in patients with persistent or recurrent epithelial ovarian carcinoma who failed chemotherapy. Between 1970 and 1995, 41 women with persistent or recurrent ovarian carcinoma after initial treatment with surgical debulking and chemotherapy (4 to 18 cycles; median, 8) were treated with WAI. Thirty-one patients had received platinum-based regimens, and 22 of these had failed within 6 months after completion of chemotherapy (“platinum-refractory”). Prior to WAI, 11 (27%) patients had microscopic residual disease, 21 (51%) had gross residual disease up to 1.5 cm, and 9 (22%) had residual tumors greater than 1.5 cm in maximal diameter. Median doses of 28 Gy to the abdomen and 48 Gy to the pelvis were delivered using open-field techniques and liver and kidney shielding. With follow-up of 1 month to 16.5 years (median potential follow-up, 1.4 years), the 5-year actuarial disease-specific survival was 47% in all 41 patients, and 50% in the 22 platinum-refractory patients. Both residual tumor size at WAI (P< 10⁻⁴) and initial stage (P= 0.003) were of prognostic value. Five-year disease-specific survival of all patients with residual tumors less than 1.5 cm was 53%; 0% for patients with tumors greater than 1.5 cm. Five-year disease-specific survivals by initial stage were: stage I and II, 75%; stage III, 40%; and stage IV, 15%. Stage I, II, or III patients with residual disease up to 1.5 cm before WAI had a 10-year actuarial disease-specific survival of 40%. Twelve patients (29%) failed to complete the planned course of WAI due to acute toxicity (most often due to prolonged thrombocytopenia). Late toxicity (requiring surgery) included bowel obstruction in two patients and fistula in one patient. Whole abdominopelvic irradiation should be considered in selected patients who fail initial chemotherapy, especially in patients who can or have been debulked to small amounts of residual disease. With acceptable toxicity, WAI results appear to be as good as or better than second-line chemotherapy, particularly in platinum-refractory patients.     

Long-term results and prognostic factors in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate long-term results and to assess prognostic factors which have an impact on overall survival in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of 287 patients treated between 1975 and 1995 was performed. All operations were performed by senior surgeons. Histologic sections were reviewed by the same pathologist. Successive adjuvant chemotherapy regimens are described. Survival was evaluated in 1997. Follow-up lasted 25-260 months (median 90). Statistical methods included Kaplan-Meier survival curves, log-rank test, and multivariate analysis. RESULTS: The 5-year survival rates were 76, 42, 21, and 6% for patients with stage I, II, III, and IV disease, respectively. Age, FIGO stage, cytology of ascites, histologic type and grade, extent of surgery, and number of residual tumors were significant prognostic indicators in univariate analysis. Multivariate analysis showed that the risk of mortality according to FIGO stage was 2.8, 95% CI [1.2-6.3], P = 0.01 for FIGO II, 5.6, 95% CI [2.9-10.8], P < 0.001 for FIGO III, and 10.5, 95% CI [4.9-22. 1], P < 0.001 for FIGO IV in comparison with FIGO I. Patients with a serous epithelial carcinoma had a 1.7-fold higher risk of mortality than patients with other histologic types: RR = 1.7, 95% CI [1.1-2. 8], P < 0.001. Patients whose tumors distribution permitted optimal surgery had a 2.3-fold lower risk of mortality than patients treated with sub- or nonoptimal surgery: RR = 0.43, 95% CI [0.29-0.64], P < 0.001. The risk of mortality for patients treated with alkylating agents, platinum-based combination chemotherapy without taxanes, or carboplatin plus paclitaxel regimens compared with patients who did not receive treatment was reduced by 47%, 95% CI [8-69%], P = 0.025, 55%, 95% CI [22-74%], P = 0.005, and 70%, 95% CI [35-86%], P = 0.002, respectively. CONCLUSION: Our study confirms the benefit of cytoreductive surgery and the efficacy of platinum plus paclitaxel first-line chemotherapy which has recently been recognized as the standard treatment for advanced epithelial ovarian cancer.     

Prognostic Factors and Relapse Patterns in Early-Stage Cervical Carcinoma after Brachytherapy and Radical Hysterectomy

Patients with cervical carcinoma FIGO stage IB and IIA (n = 167) treated with brachytherapy, radical hysterectomy, and pelvic lymphadenectomy at the University Hospital of Uppsala were evaluated, and a multivariate analysis was performed to reveal clinical and histopathological variables of predictive value of recurrence. The 5-year survival rate was 90%. Nineteen patients developed recurrent disease (11%), 15 of whom died. Patient age, clinical stage, type, and histologic grade of tumor did not indicate an increased risk of recurrence. However, multiparity (3 children or more; relative risk, RR = 4.6), lymph node metastases (RR = 6.4), tumor size (RR = 5.1), and residual carcinoma in the hysterectomy specimen (RR = 3.4) were important predictive indicators of recurrence. The median interval from initial treatment to the diagnosis of recurrence was 15 months. The majority of recurrences occurred during the first 2 years after treatment (74%) and most of them had symptoms (84%). Only three patients with recurrence were diagnosed within our surveillance program. The data suggest that surveillance for recurrence can be made more cost efficient with a more individualized follow-up during the first 2 years after treatment, concentrating on the patients with high-risk factors such as large tumors, residual carcinoma after irradiation therapy, and/or lymph node metastases.     

Preoperative radiotherapy followed by radical vulvectomy with inguinal lymphadenectomy for advanced vulvar carcinomas

A therapeutic alternative to exenteration for large locally advanced vulvar carcinoma involving the rectum, anus, or vagina is the use of preoperative radiation followed by radical surgery. Between 1980 and 1988, 13 patients with Stage III and 3 with Stage IV vulvar carcinoma involving the rectum/anus, urethra, or vagina were treated with 4000 rad to the vulva and 4500 rad to the inguinal and pelvic nodes followed by a radical vulvectomy and inguinal lymphadenectomy 4 weeks later. The overall 5 year cumulative survival was 45%. Twelve tumors regressed after radiation with 62.5% of the patients having visceral preservation while in 4 patients there was no major response to radiation and urinary or fecal diversion was required. Of the 6 recurrences 4 were central and 2 distant. Three patients with central recurrences had tumor within 1 cm of the vulvectomy margin. Complications included wet desquamation, inguinal wound separation, lymphedema, and urethral strictures. There were no operative deaths. It is concluded that the use of preoperative radiation followed by radical vulvectomy may be an alternative to pelvic exenteration in selected patients with advanced vulvar lesions.     

Unexpected primary fallopian tube carcinoma during gynecological operations: Clinicopathological and prognostic factors analyses of 67 cases

ObjectiveThe aim of the study was to analyze the clinicopathologic features, the survival rate, and the prognostic factors of women with unexpected primary fallopian tube carcinoma diagnosed during gynecological operations.Materials and methodsWe reviewed medical records of patients with unexpected primary fallopian tube carcinoma at the Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital of Fudan University between January 2004 to December 2017. The survival analysis was based on the Kaplan–Meier method, and the results were compared using the log-rank test. Cox regression analysis was used to determine factors affecting survival.ResultsSixty-seven patients with unexpected primary fallopian tube carcinoma were identified. The 5-year overall survival was 49.7%, the mean overall survival was 64 months [95% confidence interval (CI) 54–74], and the median overall survival was 59 months (95% CI 49–69). The mean follow-up time was 53.9 months (range 5–141 months). The most common clinical presentation was adnexal mass (38.8%), followed by vaginal bleeding (16.4%) and no specific symptom (13.4%). Cytoreductive surgery was performed initially in 57 (85.1%) patients. Residual disease was optimal in 56 (83.6%) patients and suboptimal in 11 (16.4%) patients. The histological subtype was predominantly the serous type (88.1%). 44 patients (65.7%) were diagnosed at Stage I/II postoperatively. 23 (34.3%) patients were in Stage III/IV. 51 patients (76.1%) had gone through laparoscopic surgery, 16 patients (23.9%) were performed laparotomy. Univariate analyses on overall survival revealed that only the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO)stage [p < 0.001; Hazard Ratio (HR), 6.433; 95% CI, 2.274–18.199], residual tumor (p = 0.014; HR, 4.957; 95% CI, 1.378–17.831) were significant prognostic factor. Pelvic lymphadenectomy did not show association with overall survival in our univariate or multivariate analyses. After an observation period of 70 months, we found an increased overall survival in the group of without lymphadenectomy.ConclusionsThe diagnosis of primary fallopian tube carcinoma is rarely considered preoperatively. The early stage and optimal debulking surgery with residual tumor ≤1 cm are important independent factors to improve patients' prognosis. However, there were no statistically significant correlations between lymphadenectomy and prognosis. The value of lymph node sampling or dissection needs to be reconsidered.     

Reexploration after treatment for ovarian carcinoma

Sixty-five patients with documented ovarian carcinoma who underwent a second exploratory celiotomy between 1969 and 1978 are presented. In 50 patients the second surgery followed appropriate staging, reduction surgery, and appropriate therapy. These patients could be divided into two groups: The first group consists of 24 patients who had no clinical or radiographic evidence of residual disease after appropriate therapy; the second group consists of patients explored after regression of disease, but with suspected or known residual (26 patients). No evidence of tumor was found in 21 of the 24 (27.5%) patients in the first group. Only one patient with a negative second-look operation developed a recurrence, and represents the only death from disease in the group. In the second group only 27% of the patients explored and found to have residual disease are alive. There were no surgical deaths or major surgical complications in either group. Indications and the operative technique for a second-look procedure are discussed.