Radio-chemotherapeutic treatment of advanced ovarian cancer.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The role of irradiation seems to be not very important in the post-operative treatment of cancer of the ovaries compared to chemotherapy although it has proved to be highly effective. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In a retrospective study 37 patients with advanced cancer of the ovaries Stages IIIb and IIIc (FIGO) undergoing post-operative consecutive radio-chemotherapy consisting of two series of whole abdominal radiation (WAR) applied in sandwich technique with 6 courses of cisplatin-epirubicin-cyclophosphamide (PEC) were evaluated. For the effectiveness of WAR and PEC-chemotherapy changes of CA 125 serum levels were noted. RESULTS: Both WAR and PEC-chemotherapy proved to be effective in 50.5% of the patients, either WAR and PEC-chemotherapy were effective in 16.2% neither one affected the course of disease in 8.1%. Statistical analysis shows a good correlation between the effectiveness of WAR and survival but no such correlation as to the effectiveness of PEC-chemotherapy. CONCLUSION: The role of irradiation in the treatment of ovarian cancer is underestimated. The addition of WAR at the beginning of the post-operative treatment can prolong the survival time in advanced stages of ovarian cancer.