Treatment of ovarian cancer

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) January 10, 2005 -- Treatment of ovarian cancer: Initial surgery (for diagnosis and treatment)

Most women with ovarian cancer will have surgery at some point during the course of their disease, and each surgery has different goals:

Initial surgery (for diagnosis and treatment)

� Initial surgery: technique

� Usually performed by laparotomy, a surgery that involves a vertical (up and down) incision in the abdomen that is large enough to allow the surgeon to look inside the body and remove cancerous tissue

� Sometimes includes debulking, which is described as removal of all visible cancer. In addition, it also involves removal of one or both ovaries and fallopian tubes (salpingo-oopharectomy) and often the removal of the uterus (hysterectomy). It is important that a gynecologic oncologist is the leader of the surgical team, as prognosis is closely related to how much of the cancer cannot be removed during surgery.

� Goal: diagnosis

� Obtain an accurate surgical diagnosis, which is crucial for planning an appropriate treatment strategy

� Determine how far the cancer has spread (�staging� the cancer)

� Obtain a biopsy sample to analyze the cellular characteristics of the cancer

� Goal: treatment

� �Debulking� to remove as much of the cancer tissue as possible

� Optimal debulking of the tumor in women with bulky disease can improve outcome

�Second-look� surgery is a follow-up for women whose cancer responds to chemotherapy. [Not performed routinely]

� Second-look surgery: techniques

� Laparotomy

� Laparoscopy

� Surgery using fiberoptic scopes and tubes

� Less invasive (can be performed through small [ ≤ 1 inch] incisions in the abdomen)

� Goal: diagnosis

� To investigate whether any cancer remains in the abdominal cavity and will require further treatment

� The role of second-look surgery in disease management is evolving, and this technique might be replaced by other, less-invasive assessment methods

Additional debulking surgery

� Goal: treatment

� To reduce cancer symptoms and improve the effects of chemotherapy

Surgery for recurrent ovarian cancer

� To remove measurable disease after a reasonable disease-free interval

� To remove bowel or ureteral obstruction

http://www.ovarian.org/