Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy Reduces the Treatment-free Interval After First-line Treatment in Patients With Advanced Ovarian Cancer
It is well established for stage III/IV ovarian cancers that the more complete the removal at initial surgery the better the outcome. It is known that chemotherapy prior to the procedure, known as neoadjuvant therapy, improves the surgical result due to reduction in size of the cancer.
This study looked at about 500 patients, one third of whom had neoadjuvant chemotherapy, the others having surgery on presentation. Treatment-free interval times and platinum resistance were compared in both groups.
There was no difference in platinum resistance, (which indicates the sensitivity of the cancer to chemotherapy), in either group. Patients who had chemotherapy prior to surgery had significantly shorter treatment free intervals suggesting earlier recurrence of disease.
No explanation is given; it is possible that the group treated with neoadjuvant therapy may have been less well at the time of initial presentation.
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