To print: Select File and then Print from your browser's menu --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Title: Lymphadenectomy Improves 5-Year Survival Rates in Ovarian Cancer Patients: Presented at ESSO URL: http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/22C5DA.htm Doctor's Guide September 15, 2008
By Shazia Qureshi THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- September 15, 2008 -- In a large database analysis of about 50,000 women with ovarian cancer, lymphadenectomy significantly improved 5-year survival rates regardless of the patient's cancer stage, researchers reported here at the 14th Congress of the European Society of Surgical Oncology (ESSO). Lead author Cecile Bergzoll, MD, Department of Gynaecological Surgery, Hospital Tenon, Paris, France, presented the results of a retrospective study on September 12, and noted that "lymphadenectomy probably has a therapeutic benefit independent of cytoreduction." Dr. Bergzoll and colleagues evaluated data on 54,838 patients with ovarian cancer from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) programme, a large cancer database that includes 17 registries of patients in the United States. The researchers analysed the records of 49,783 patients with available lymphadenectomy status. The median age was 69 years and the median follow-up for those alive at the last follow-up visit was 39 months. The 5-year overall survival rate for the whole group was 37.7%. The International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) staging for ovarian cancer changed in 1986 to include both peritoneal and lymphatic assessment, Dr. Bergzoll noted. Under the new staging guidelines, patients with localised pelvic disease that included nodal metastasis would no longer be classified as stage II but rather as stage IIIc instead. The data showed that 22% of the patients had FIGO stage I ovarian cancer, 8% had stage II, 35% had stage III, 29% had stage IV, and 6% had no FIGO stage information available. A total of 68% of the women had not undergone a lymphadenectomy, 18% had 1 to 9 nodes resected, and 14% had more than 9 nodes resected. According to univariate analysis, patients who did not undergo lymph node resection had a 36.6% disease-specific survival rate at 5 years. This rate was significantly higher in both groups in whom the surgery was performed: it was 62% in patients who had 1 to 9 nodes resected, and 71.1% in those who had more than 9 nodes removed (P < .001 vs no lymphadenectomy). Overall survival was also significantly higher when lymph node resection was performed, and this survival benefit was seen in all FIGO stages. In patients with FIGO stage III ovarian cancer, the 5-year overall survival rate was 22% in women who had not undergone a lymphadenectomy, 42% in those who had 1 to 9 nodes resected, and 52% in patients in whom more than 9 nodes were resected. The researchers found no significant association between FIGO stage and the extent of the lymphadenectomy. In a subgroup of 5,821 patients with FIGO stage III epithelial tumours who had undergone pelvic exenteration, disease-specific survival was higher among patients who underwent lymphadenectomy compared with those who had not, although the difference was less pronounced than in the other patients. "Since there might be some overlap between performing radical surgery and performing lymphadenectomy, maximal cytoreduction should remain the main objective in ovarian cancer surgery," Dr. Bergzoll concluded. [Presentation title: The Therapeutic Role of Lymph Node Resection in Ovarian Cancer: Analysis of the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Database. Abstract 152] --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 1999 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of P\S\L content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of P\S\L. P\S\L shall not be liable for any errors, omissions or delays in this content or any other content on its sites, newsletters or other publications, nor for any decisions or actions taken in reliance on such content. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This news story was printed from *Doctor's Guide to the Internet* located at http://www.docguide.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Return to News Story Page This site is maintained by webmaster@pslgroup.com Please contact us with any comments, problems or bugs. All contents Copyright (c) 1998 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved.