The functional trajectories of older women having surgery for  gynae-oncology  cancer: A single site prospective observational study http://tinyurl.com/49sebad9 Whether to put elderly women through the challenge of clearance surgery for ovarian cancer  is a difficult choice. There has previously been a reluctance to treat older women with the same  extensive surgical resection  which is the standard of care for younger fitter women. This  p rospective review looked at about 100  previously self-reliant  women  with cancer ,   who were 65   years old or older  and  measured their postoperative fun ctional recovery ,  with correlation to their  independence before diagnosis. Results from the survey showed that 70% of the women were able to function normally with full independence at 12 mo nths  post-surgery . Some of the women  had impairment of function at six months with  subsequent  recovery....

Unveiling the Immunogenicity of Ovarian  Tumo u rs  as the Crucial Catalyst for Therapeutic Success https://tinyurl.com/bd4ke3sx Ovarian cancer is resistant to immune therapy.  Because of this less than 15% will respond to treatments such as checkpoint  inhibition or T Cell infusion which are effective as treatment for many other cancers . Immune resistance occurs in ovarian cancer  by various processes which include ,  downwards regulation of otherwise protective genes ,  and change of  surface proteins on cancer  cells that act as   targets for immune response.  This leads to platinum resistance and  early recurrence. Understanding of this altered immune status  results in  new  classifications of cancer types , with separation of ovarian cancer into  homologous recombination deficiency,  (about 40%) , and epithelial mesenchymal transition,  (the rest). The latter group are th e most immune resis...

Prevalence of viral DNA in high-grade serous epithelial ovarian cancer and correlation with clinical outcomes https://tinyurl.com/e6e9vaer It becomes clear with new understanding that many cancers including ovarian cancer show evidence of viral infection. This retro spective study looks at tissue samples from 98 patients with ovarian cancer . Using  a  polymerase chain reaction ,  the presence or absence of viral DNA in these samples were  measured  and compared to the survival outcomes. 46 of the patients showed evidence of viral infection  with one or more virus signatures detected. The viruses found included  known carcinogens such as the human papilloma virus and Epstein - Barr  virus. Cancers  containing  viral DNA were more likely to be platinum resistant and had worse survival . This was especially true for younger women, (<70). It is not clear whether the  virus infection is  a   cause of the cancer or an effect...

Early-Onset Ovarian Cancer <30 Years: What Do We Know about Its Genetic Predisposition? https://tinyurl.com/2x6p5jhj Ovarian cancer in young women (age 18-30) is rare being about 5% of the total. I t was assumed that most ovarian cancer in women of this age was due to inherited genetic mutatio ns. Usually, ovarian cancer is a disease of the elderly . Of whom about 20% have a genetic mutation ,  which causes the disease. This  retrospective survey of  more than 300 young women from four different data sets found much less  genetic mutation; about 3%. A different spectrum of disease is seen in the young ,  w ith about half of ovarian cancer arising from embryonal germ cells. Ser ous Ovarian Cancer is much less common in young women,  being about 40% of all cases compared to  9 0% overall. Low Grade  disease is more likely in the young . However, survival is almost 50% worse for the young, (HR0.53)  despite these  seemingly favourable...

Should We Abandon Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy in the Treatment of Advanced Ovarian Cancer? A Meta-Analysis  https://tinyurl.com/3drtt9jb Use of  intra peritoneal chemotherapy  (IPEC)  is low in  A ustralia. The reasons for this include adverse effect with pain and  toxicity. Logistic issues such as access and  expertise  also limit its use. There has previously been little evidence of the potential benefit. This study, a retrospective analysis of all available  data looked at the survival benefits of  IPEC. Six studies ,  with results for more than 4500 patients were shown to fit the selection criteria. Both overall survival and progress free survival  were improved with IPEC ,  by  almost 20% , (HR 0.81). The implication of the study is that the IPEC therapy should be  re-evaluated,  and greater use would be benefi cial.