Epithelial ovarian cancer

Opinion statement Epithelial ovarian cancer is the most lethal of all gynecologic malignancies. Most women have advanced stage disease. Access to appropriate initial surgical management by a gynecologic oncologist is important because treatment and survival are affected by appropriate surgical staging and debulking of tumor. After debulking/ staging surgery, chemotherapy with platinum-taxane-based regimens is appropriate for most patients. Patients with early stage, low-risk tumors may be cured with surgery alone. Interval cytoreductive surgery may be appropriate for patients who are initially suboptimally cytoreduced and are stable or responding to chemotherapy. The role of second-look surgery remains to be defined. Patients with recurrent or relapsed ovarian cancer are incurable. There are several chemotherapy agents that can achieve disease responses, which may be associated with palliation of tumor-related symptoms. Participation in clinical trials is encouraged for all patients. Novel approaches to managing minimal residual disease are being tested in hopes of decreasing the number of patients who relapse after achieving complete clinical remission.     

Outcome of Interval Debulking in Advanced Ovarian Cancer Patients

Interval debulking and neoadjuvant chemotherapy have been used in management of advanced epithelialovarian cancer for many years in order to achieve optimal residual disease and reduce surgical morbidity. Thepresent study was conducted to evaluate the outcomes of advanced ovarian cancer patients treated with thesetwo approaches prior to cytoreductive surgery in Chiang Mai University Hospital between January 2001 andDecember 2006. The medical records of 29 patients who met the criteria were retrospectively reviewed. Mosthad stage IIIC serous cystadenocarcinomas. We found that the 5 year progression free survival and overallsurvival were 10% and 22% while the median values were 13 months and 34 months, respectively. Multivariateanalysis showed that a suboptimal residual tumor volume was a statistically significant adverse prognosticfactor for overall survival. In conclusion, interval debulking surgery and neoadjuvant chemotherapy beforecytoreductive surgery lead to a more favorable outcome with advanced epithelial ovarian cancers.     

Contemporary considerations for neoadjuvant chemotherapy in primary ovarian cancer

Surgery is essential for the successful treatment of patients with advanced ovarian cancer. Recent reports have raised questions about the best time to perform surgery with regard to administering chemotherapy. A prospective randomized clinical trial comparing neoadjuvant chemotherapy (ie, platinum-based chemotherapy before attempting cytoreductive surgery) and conventional treatment (ie, aggressive cytoreductive surgery followed by platinum-based chemotherapy) demonstrated no difference in progression-free and overall survival between the two treatment groups. The trial demonstrated the need for optimum surgical cytoreduction regardless of whether surgery is performed before or after neoadjuvant chemotherapy. As the postoperative morbidity and mortality was lower in the neoadjuvant treatment group, neoadjuvant chemotherapy should be considered a standard treatment for women with advanced ovarian cancer, particularly those unlikely to be surgically cytoreduced to no residual tumor. This article reviews contemporary considerations in the use of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in the treatment of primary ovarian cancer.     

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy and ovarian cancer

Primary surgical cytoreduction followed by chemotherapy usually is the preferred management of advanced (stage III or IV) ovarian cancer. The presence of residual disease after surgery is one of the most important adverse prognostic factors for survival. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy has been proposed as an alternative approach to conventional surgery as initial management of bulky ovarian cancer, with the goal of improving surgical quality. Retrospective analyses suggest that a subgroup of patients with Stage III and IV ovarian carcinoma can be treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by interval debulking surgery. The absolute indications for neoadjuvant chemotherapy appear to be Stage IV disease (excluding pleural fluid) or metastases of more than 1 g at sites where resection is impossible. Interval debulking surgery in patients with suboptimal primary debulking surgery has been proven effective in increasing overall survival and progression-free survival in a large prospective, randomized trial of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC). GOG evaluated the effect of adding secondary cytoreductive surgery to postoperative chemotherapy. Unfortunately in this study, for patients with advanced ovarian carcinoma in whom primary cytoreductive surgery was considered to be maximal, the addition of secondary cytoreductive surgery to postoperative chemotherapy with paclitaxel plus cisplatin does not improve progression-free survival or overall survival. The strategy of neoadjuvant chemotherapy, followed by interval debulking surgery, should be confirmed in a prospective randomized trial. The EORTC55971 trial is currently addressing this issue.     

Advanced ovarian cancer

Opinion statement Ovarian cancer spreads early in the disease into the abdomen. An en bloc resection of the tumor, according to surgical principle, is not possible in patients with highstage ovarian cancer. At surgery, large pelvic tumor lesions are found together with multiple tumor lesions involving the omentum, bowel, and mesentery together with a diffuse peritoneal carcinomatosis and diaphragmatic involvement. A multimodality approach with cytoreductive surgery and taxol platinum-based chemotherapy is therefore the mainstay of treatment of advanced ovarian cancer. The size of residual disease after surgery is one of the most important prognostic factors for survival. Patients with an optimal tumor cytoreduction (residual lesions smaller than 1 cm) have a significant longer survival (almost two times the median survival) than patients with larger residual lesions [1-5]. This holds true even for patients with International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage IV disease [6-10]. Patients in whom all macroscopic tumor is resected do have the longest survival. The 2-year survival of patients with a radical resection of all macroscopic tumors is 80%, in contrast to less than 22% for the patients with lesions larger than 2 cm [4]. An optimal primary cytoreductive surgery can generally be performed in 30% to 50% of patients [11]. Only in more experienced gynecologic oncology centers is the percentage as high as 85%, but sometimes at the cost of an increased morbidity and even mortality [12,13,14-16,17]. The worse prognosis of the patients with a suboptimal primary cytoreductive surgery can be improved by an interval cytoreductive surgery after platinum-containing induction chemotherapy [18,19]. The median survival and progression-free survivals are significantly lengthened by cytoreductive surgery. After more than 5-years follow-up there is still a significant survival benefit: the 5-year survival of the surgery patients was 24% versus 13% for the no-surgery patients (P = 0.0032). All patients, including those with unfavorable prognostic factors (stage IV disease, peritonitis carcinomatosis, or ascites at primary surgery), and even patients with stable disease after induction chemotherapy, seem to benefit from interval cytoreductive surgery. The increase in progression-free survival and overall survival does outweigh the morbidity associated with interval debulking surgery, which is not different from those associated with primary surgery.     

Aggressive surgical strategies in advanced ovarian cancer: a monocentric study of 203 stage IIIC and IV patients

AIMS: The standard treatment for advanced ovarian cancer consists of cytoreductive surgery associated with a platinum/paclitaxel-based chemotherapy. Nevertheless, there is still the question as to the extent and timing of the surgical debulking. The aim of this study was to evaluate the place of surgery in the therapeutic sequence. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We reviewed data from all consecutive patients with stage IIIC and IV epithelial ovarian cancer, operated on at our institution between 1990 and 2005. Patients were divided into 2 groups, according to the position of surgery in the therapeutic sequence. Patients in group 1 received initial debulking surgery. Group 2 consisted of patients having received their first debulking after initial chemotherapy. RESULTS: Two hundred and three patients were identified and frequently underwent aggressive surgery, in particular, digestive surgery with bowel resections. Perioperative mortality and morbidity rates were low (2% and 14%, respectively) and there was no difference between the groups. Overall survival in group 1 for patients with complete cytoreduction (residual disease (RD)=0), optimal surgery (RD<1cm) or sub-optimal surgery (RD>1cm) was 50%, 30% and 14%, respectively. In group 2, overall survival following complete surgery was 30%, and no long-term survival was observed when surgery was not complete at the time of interval surgery. Survival was worse for patients who had received more than 4 cycles of neoadjuvant chemotherapy. CONCLUSION: This study confirms the importance of surgery in the prognosis of advanced ovarian cancer. Only the patient subgroup that underwent complete initial or interval surgery was associated with a prolonged remission. Optimal surgery with a controlled morbidity can be achieved in many cases, even if bowel resection is needed, at the time of primary debulking. In the interval cytoreductive surgery subgroup, the response to initial chemotherapy and surgery was found to be essential for prognosis.     

The role of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in the treatment of advanced ovarian cancer

Primary cytoreductive surgery followed by chemotherapy represents the current standard treatment for patients with advanced ovarian cancer. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by interval debulking surgery has been proposed as an alternative approach for the initial management of bulky ovarian cancer, aiming at the improvement of surgical efficiency and patients' quality of life. According to the hitherto published studies, consisting mainly of retrospective observations, neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by interval cytoreduction appears to improve the prognosis and quality of life in selected groups of patients. The survival outcome in these patients is similar to that of the conventional approach, or even better in some of the cases. Moreover, patients undergoing debulking surgery after having received neoadjuvant chemotherapy had a reduced perioperative morbidity compared to patients undergoing primary cytoreduction. Concurrently, neoadjuvant chemotherapy provides preoperative knowledge of tumor chemosensitivity, hence allowing the surgeon to choose appropriately aggressive treatment. However, until the results of prospective randomized trials become available, neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by interval surgery should be applied only to individual cases and primarily in the context of clinical trials.     

Timing of surgery and the role of cytoreductive chemotherapy in patients with advanced ovarian carcinoma

We retrospectively selected 27 consecutive patients with advanced ovarian carcinoma (15 stage III, 11 stage IV and 1 relapse) who had an unresectable intraabdominal tumor at presentation and prospectively evaluated the overall treatment outcome. Patients were initially treated with chemotherapy consisting of cisplatin-containing regimens in 20 cases, adriamycin and cyclophosphamide in 5, and melphalan in 2. Treatment was continued until maximal tumor response or progression. Following a median of 6 cycles of chemotherapy, all patients underwent debulking surgery. Six women were without evidence of disease and 13 had minimal residual disease after surgery, for an overall 70% rate of optimal debulking. Patients with evidence of disease at laparotomy were treated with 5 additional cycles of chemotherapy, and response was then assessed at laparotomy except for patients with progressive disease. Nine (33%) patients were pathologic complete responders at the end of the entire treatment program. Overall median survival time was 26 months, with a median relapse-free survival of 33 months. Tumor responses were not associated with any particular chemotherapy regimen. The results achieved in this series of patients together with the data from the literature suggests that use of a cytoreductive chemotherapy of short duration has the potential of increasing the rate of optimal debulking surgery. Furthermore, it may contribute to a better disease control in women with bulky ovarian carcinoma compared to the present strategy, which consists of surgery followed by chemotherapy.     

Prise en charge du cancer de l’ovaire

Ovarian carcinoma is the worst gynecologic cancer due to an advanced stage at diagnosis in two thirds of the cases. Advanced stages are usually characterized by a large tumor burden on the ovaries as well as metastatic disease in the peritoneal cavity. Early stages are more common in young women and the surgical treatment should comprise the tumor excision and a comprehensive abdominal staging to be sure that there is no extension beyond the ovaries-unilateral oophorectomy can preserve the fertility before child-bearing. No treatment is needed after surgery in stage I without poor pronostic factors. Adjuvant chemotherapy should be applied postoperatively in the other cases. The best likelihood of prolonged survival is observed after optimal debulk-ing surgery and chemotherapy in advanced stages. If possible surgery should be performed at first but in most advanced stage with large tumor volume in the upper abdomen according to clinical and CT-scan examination, the concept of chemosurgical debulking shoud be considered. Interval surgery underwent after three or four courses of front line chemotherapy but this strategy should be further evaluated by clinical trials. Currently paraplatin associated with paclitaxel is the most commonly used regimen due to its effectiveness and lower toxicity. In a near future progress can be expected with new protocols. Thank to agressive surgery and chemotherapy many patients should be able to reach a complete remission of their disease but most of them will still die of recurrent disease. At this point, two questions should be answered: 1) how to manage the residual abdominal disease in order to prevent the recurrence. No consolidation treatment demontrated any superiority but the French experience and trial with high dose chemotherapy supported by autologous stem cells transplantation showed recently positive results? 2) How to manage the recurrent disease with sometime indication for secondary surgical debulking and always chemotherapy? This is the field for testing new drugs or new strategies. A large number of patients should enter clinical trials in order to answer these questions and due to the very poor prognosis of this disease large attention should be given to the quality of life of theses patients.     

Cytoreductive surgery in the management of ovarian cancer

The standard management for previously untreated advanced-stage epithelial ovarian cancer is optimum cytoreductive surgery followed by aggressive cytotoxic chemotherapy. This approach is based on a retrospective review of a single-institution experience published more than 30 years ago and has yet to be confirmed in a prospective randomized trial. Many subsequent studies have supported the observation that advanced ovarian cancer patients who have the longest survival invariably have no macroscopic disease left at the completion of the initial surgery. The combination of a platinum- and taxane-based chemotherapy regimen is now well established as the most active one for treating women with advanced ovarian cancer. However, the overwhelming majority of patients with advanced ovarian cancer will eventually experience disease recurrence and develop resistance to cytotoxic chemotherapy. Selected patients with recurrent ovarian cancer--ie, those with an isolated recurrence identified more than 6 months following completion of initial chemotherapy and who have an excellent performance status--are managed with cytoreductive surgery followed by a platinum-based regimen. As in previously untreated patients, patients who have no macroscopic residual tumor left after secondary debulking for recurrent ovarian cancer have a significantly better survival than those left with any gross tumor. This article will review the role of surgery in the initial management of advanced-stage and recurrent ovarian cancer, focusing on the definition of optimum surgical cytoreduction.     

Locoregional recurrence of ovarian cancer: the place of surgery

Standard therapy for advanced ovarian cancer includes cytoreductive surgery associated with platin based chemotherapy. Secondary surgery for recurrent ovarian cancer remains controversial. Actually there is not randomized trial based on this question. Furthermore literature shows that patients with recurrent disease may derive a significant survival benefit from optimal debulking. The datas availables indicate that prolonged disease free interval and feasibility of complete surgical resection are the main prognosis criteria. Proper selection of patients with recurrent ovarian cancer is essential to improve the therapeutic benefit of secondary surgery. There is a large place for trials and evaluation of innovatives techniques as hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy or intraperitoneal radio-immunotherapy.     

Cytoreductive surgery for gynecologic malignancies--new standards of care

Studies on cytoreductive surgery for advanced ovarian and primary peritoneal cancer have consistently shown a strong correlation between cytoreduction and survival, with the best survival observed in patients who have no visible residual disease after successful cytoreductive surgery. Recent data that intraperitoneal chemotherapy further improves survival after optimal cytoreduction adds to the potential benefit of such surgery. More recently, significant survival benefit from optimal cytoreduction has also been shown for patients with recurrent disease and for women with advanced endometrial carcinoma. The selection criteria for patients and critical aspects of the operative technique and timing of cytoreductive surgery are discussed.     

Cytoreductive surgery and intraperitoneal chemotherapy for the treatment of peritoneal surface malignancy

Despite new developments in the treatment of solid tumors, complete resection remains as an absolute requirement for cure of gastrointestinal cancer. Success in the surgical management of peritoneal surface malignancy depends on the surgeon’s ability to complete complex cytoreductive procedures so that only microscopic disease remains. This paper describes the current strategy that the surgical oncologist should pursue in the treatment of patients with peritoneal carcinomatosis, sarcomatosis and mesothelioma. Technical details required for this surgery include patient position, incision and exposure, complete lysis of adhesions, electroevaporative dissection, peritonectomy procedures, proper positioning of drains for intraperitoneal chemotherapy, and reconstructive surgery. Understanding the treatment and mastery of surgical skills to manage the peritoneal surface spread of malignancy has led to long-term survival of selected patients. The success of this treatment strategy depends on a long-term dedication to achieve the full potential of a curative outcome.     

FRα : une cible pour la thérapie photodynamique prophylactique des métastases péritonéales ovariennes ?

Partly due to delays in its diagnosis, ovarian cancer's prognosis remains dire after primary therapy. Treatment consists in complete cytoreductive surgery and platinum-based chemotherapy. Recurrence rates are disappointingly high, as 60 % of women with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer considered in remission will develop recurrent disease within five years. Special attention to undetected peritoneal metastasis and residual tumorous cells during surgery is necessary as they are the main predictors of recurrences. Targeted therapies aim to bring chemotherapy, radiotherapy and selective tumor photosensitizer (PS) agents to the targeted cell and its tumoral microenvironment. Folate receptor α (FRα) shows promising prospects in targeting ovarian cancerous cells. Indeed, with good specificity and frequent overexpression in ovarian cancer, FRα is a recurrent topic in recent publications. The aim of this review is to present FRα and the reasons that make it an ideal targeting ligand for ovarian carcinoma therapy. Prophylactic photodynamic therapy (PPDT) using new generation FRα-coupled agents combined with complete cytoreductive surgery could allow for a significant decrease in recurrence rates. Preclinical trials are being run in order to allow for human clinical applications.     

The role of secondary cytoreductive surgery in the treatment of patients with recurrent epithelial ovarian carcinoma

BACKGROUND: This study examined the impact of secondary cytoreductive surgery on survival of patients with recurrent epithelial ovarian carcinoma. METHODS: One hundred six patients with a disease free interval (DFI) > 6 months after primary treatment underwent secondary cytoreductive surgery. Multivariate analysis determined which variables influenced the cytoreductive outcome and survival. RESULTS: Eighty-seven patients (82.1%) underwent removal of all visible tumor. The median and estimated 5-year survival for the entire cohort after recurrence was 35.9 months and 28%, respectively. The probability of complete cytoreduction was influenced by the largest size of recurrent tumor (< 10 cm ?90.0% vs. > 10 cm ?66.7%; P = 0.003), use of salvage chemotherapy before secondary surgery (chemotherapy given ?64.3% vs. chemotherapy not given ?93.8%; P = 0.001), and preoperative Gynecologic Oncology Group performance status (0 ?100%, 1 ?91.4%, 2 ?82.4%, and 3 ?47.4%; P = 0.001). Survival was influenced by the DFI after primary treatment (6-12 months ?median, 25.0 months vs. 13-36 months ?median, 44.4 months vs. > 36 months ?median, 56.8 months; P = 0.005), the completeness of cytoreduction (visibly disease free ?median, 44.4 months vs. any residual disease ?median, 19.3 months; P = 0.007), the use of salvage chemotherapy before secondary surgery (chemotherapy given ?median, 24.9 months vs. chemotherapy not given ?median, 48.4 months; P = 0.005), and the largest size of recurrent tumor (< 10 cm ?median, 37.3 months vs. > 10 cm ?median, 35.6 months; P = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS: Complete cytoreduction is possible for the majority of patients with recurrent epithelial ovarian carcinoma and maximizes survival if undertaken before salvage chemotherapy. The authors believe a randomized trial should be initiated to confirm these findings.     

Maximal cytoreductive effort in epithelial ovarian cancer surgery

The surgical management of advanced epithelial ovarian cancer involves cytoreduction, or removal of grossly-evident tumor. Residual disease after surgical cytoreduction of ovarian cancer has been shown to be strongly associated with survival. The goal of surgery is "optimal" surgical cytoreduction, which is generally defined as residual disease of 1 cm or less. However, the designation of "optimal" surgical cytoreduction has evolved to include maximal surgical effort and no gross residual disease. In order to achieve this, more aggressive surgical procedures such as rectosigmoidectomy, diaphragm peritonectomy, partial liver resection, and video-assisted thoracic surgery are reported and increasingly utilized in the surgical management of advanced ovarian cancer. The role of maximal surgical effort also extends to the recurrent setting where the goal of surgery should be complete cytoreduction. Patient selection is important in identifying appropriate candidates for surgical cytoreduction in the recurrent setting. The purpose of this article is to review the role of maximum surgical effort in primary and recurrent ovarian cancer.     

The role of surgery in ovarian cancer with special emphasis on cytoreductive surgery for recurrence

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The role of cytoreductive surgery for recurrent ovarian cancer has not clearly been defined, and randomized trials are lacking. Some series have reported favorable outcomes for selected patients. This review summarizes the available evidence for selecting patients and the results of cytoreductive surgery in recurrent ovarian cancer. RECENT FINDINGS: A Medline search identified 23 series including 1795 patients (21-285 patients per study). Patients who underwent cytoreductive surgery for recurrence were highly selected. Complete tumor resection was feasible in 9 to 82% of patients and was commonly associated with prolonged survival. A variety of predictive and prognostic factors for complete resection were reported. Good performance status, disease characteristics (e.g. peritoneal carcinosis), and outcome of prior surgery seemed to have an impact on surgical outcome. By contrast, disease-free survival played only a minor role, especially in patients with recurrence later than 6 months after primary treatment. SUMMARY: Prospective evaluation of predictive scores for successful cytoreductive surgery in recurrent ovarian cancer is urgently needed. In a second step, randomized trials evaluating the role of surgery in the treatment strategy of recurrent ovarian cancer should be initiated. Until then, experienced and trained surgeons might offer surgery for recurrent disease to individually selected patients after giving information about the potential benefit and about the limited available evidence regarding this strategy.     

Role of Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in the Management of Advanced Ovarian Cancer

Objective: To analyze efficacy of neoadjuvant chemotherapy for advanced ovarian cancer. Materials andMethods: A total of 107 patients with advanced ovarian cancer undergoing cytoreductive surgery were dividedinto a neoadjuvant chemotherapy group (n=61) and a primary debulking group (n=46) and retrospectivelyanalyzed. Platinum-based adjuvant chemotherapy was applied to both groups after cytoreductive surgery andeoverall and progression-free survival times were calculated. Results: No significant difference was observed induration of hospitalization (20.8±6.1 vs. 20.2±5.4 days, p>0.05). The operation time of neoadjuvant chemotherapygroup was shorter than the initial surgery group (3.1±0.7 vs. 3.4±0.8 h, p<0.05). There were no significantdifferences in median overall survival time between neoadjuvant chemotherapy group and surgery group (42 vs.55 months, p>0.05). Similarly, there was no difference in median progression-free survival between neoadjuvantchemotherapy group and surgery group (16 vs. 17 months, p>0.05). The surgical residual tumor size demonstratedno significant difference between initial surgery and neoadjuvant chemotherapy groups (p>0.05). Multivariateanalysis showed that more than 3 cycles of regimen with neoadjuvant chemotherapy was associated with moreresistance to chemotherapy compared with patients without receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy (OR: 5.962,95%CI: 1.184-30.030, p<0.05). Conclusions:Neoadjuvant chemotherapy can shorten the operation time. However,it does not improve survival rates of advanced ovarian cancer patients.     

提高复发性卵巢上皮癌手术切除率的探讨

背景与目的:复发性卵巢上皮癌能否手术切除对预后影响较大,提高复发性卵巢上皮癌的手术切除率有助于改善其预后。本研究旨在探讨如何提高复发性卵巢上皮癌的手术切除率。方法:回顾性分析1997年3月1日至2003年3月31日期间因复发性卵巢上皮癌在我院行第二次细胞减灭术的54例病例的临床资料。其中病灶部位局限于盆腔19例,超出盆腔35例。病灶数目为1个者16例,≥2个者38例。无腹水38例,有腹水16例。接受术前化疗20例,有效12例,无效8例。以 Logistic多因素回归,分析年龄、复发间隔时间、复发病灶部位、数目、有无腹水及复发术前化疗对复发术后残留灶的影响。结果:肿瘤的满意切除率为81.5％(44/54),其中无残留灶者占53.7％(29/54),残留灶≤2 cm者占27.8％(15/54)。Logistic分析显示,病灶部位及有无腹水是影响复发术后残留灶的显著性因素(P<0.05);复发术前化疗有效和无效患者的满意切除率分别为100％(12/12)和37.5％(3/8),卡方检验显示两者有非常显著性差异(P<0.01)。本组40.7％(22/54)的患者手术较复杂,涉及胃肠道、泌尿道或肝脾。术后并发症发生率为16.6％(9/54),手术死亡率1.9％(1/54)。结论:根据患者瘤灶的边界、部位、有无腹水及术前化疗的疗效,对复发患者进行适当的选择,并作好充分的术前准备有助于提高复     

Treatment of peritoneal carcinomatosis from ovarian cancer. Present, future directions and proposals

Peritoneal carcinomatosis, considered years ago as a final stage of unresectable cancer, can now be managed with curative intention by means of a radical cytoreductive surgical procedure with associated peritonectomy and intraperitoneal chemotherapy, as described by Sugarbaker. Malignant neoplasms such as mesothelioma and pseudomyxoma peritonei, ovarian and colon cancer nowadays are experiencing some new therapeutical approaches. Higher survival rates can be reached in ovarian cancer, which is commonly diagnosed in the presence of peritoneal carcinomatosis, using an optimal cytoreductive radical surgery with intraperitoneal chemotherapy. An actualised review of the treatment of advanced ovarian cancer and a proposal of a national multicentre protocol for the treatment of peritoneal carcinomatosis from ovarian cancer has been performed by a group of Spanish surgeons and oncologists dedicated to a therapeutical approach to this pathology.