Debulking surgery for incompletely operated advanced epithelial ovarian carcinoma

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: There is still no any data about the role of re-operation and re-debulking in previously incompletely operated advanced staged patients with epithelial ovarian carcinoma (EOC). In this study, the authors aimed to analyze the effect of an incomplete primary surgery on patient prognosis. METHODS: Clinicopathological variables of 317 advanced staged EOC patients were retrospectively collected. RESULTS: Twenty-nine patients had an initial incomplete surgery and referred to our center for debulking while remaining 288 had undergone primary debulking surgery at our institution. Comparison of the two groups with respect to clinicopathological variables could not reveal significant difference. Median survival was 3.24 years for re-operated patients while it was 2.07 years for patients who had undergone primary debulking surgery. Upon multivariate analysis, final optimal debulking, tumor grade and a history of an incomplete surgery before the final debulking were the significant prognosticators. A subgroup analysis of re-staged patients could not reveal a significant role for either the type or the time interval between the operations. CONCLUSION: A history of an incomplete primary surgery does not seem to adversely affect patient prognosis and the optimal cytoreductive success achieved in final debulking surgery is still the most important prognostic factor.