Impact of Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy on the Rate of Bowel Resection in Advanced Epithelial Ovarian Cancer.

AIM: To assess the decrease in the number of bowel resections (BR) necessary to achieve complete cytoreduction (CC-0) in advanced epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) permitted by neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC).

PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients were selected from a population of advanced EOC cases diagnosed between 2002 and 2009 at the Curie Institute: 97 patients with Federation International of Gynecology and Obstetrics IIIc and IV with unresectable disease treated with NAC followed by interval debulking surgery were included. We proceeded to a systematic blinded review of all the surgical reports pre-and post-NAC by two different surgeons to assess the surgical procedures required to obtain CC-0.

RESULTS: Before NAC, at least 84 patients (87%) would have required BR to obtain a CC-0 resection. At interval debulking surgery, 47 (49%) still required a BR, which corresponds to a decrease of 38% (p<0.0001). The same decrease was observed for resection of small bowel, colon and rectosigmoid, as follows: 54 to 17 (77% to 24%, p<0.0001), 45 to 19 (56% to 24%, p<0.0001) and 72 to 25 (90% to 31%, p<0.0001), respectively. The median overall survival (OS) among CC-0 patients with and without BR was 57 months [95% confidence interval (CI)=25-90 months] and 50 months [95% CI=43-57 months], respectively (p=0.71). The OS among patients without complete resection was significantly worse, with a median of 21 months (95% CI=17-32 months, p<0.0001).

CONCLUSION: NAC significantly reduces the need and rate of BR in advanced EOC, but also of small bowel, colon and rectosigmoid resection. There is no loss of OS, after BR especially if the debulking surgery is complete.