Objective: The value of secondary cytoreductive surgery (SCS) in patients with recurrent epithelial ovarian cancer is controversial. The aim of this population-based study was to investigate the role of SCS in the Netherlands.
Methods: Data of 408 patients who underwent SCS between 2000 and 2013 were retrospectively collected from 38 Dutch hospitals. Survival after complete and incomplete SCS was estimated by Kaplan-Meier curves. Factors associated with overall survival (OS) were explored with Cox regression.
Results: Median OS after SCS was 51 months (95% confidence interval [95% CI], 44.8-57.2). Complete SCS was achieved in 295 (72.3%) patients, with an OS of 57 months (95% CI, 49.0-65.0) compared with 28 months (95% CI, 20.8-35.2) in patients with incomplete SCS (log-rank test; P < 0.001). Nonserous histology (HR 0.65; 95% CI 0.45-0.95), a long progression free interval (hazard ratio [HR], 0.29; 95% CI, 0.07-1.18), a good performance status (HR, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.49-0.94), SCS without preoperative chemotherapy (HR, 0.72; 95% CI, 0.51-1.01), and complete SCS (HR, 0.46; 95% CI, 0.33-0.64) were prognostic factors for survival.
Conclusions: This population-based retrospective study showed that there might be a role for SCS in recurrent epithelial ovarian cancer especially when complete SCS can be accomplished. However, before adopting SCS as a standard treatment modality for recurrent epithelial ovarian cancer, results of 3 ongoing prospectively randomized trials are needed.