European Society of Gynaecological Oncology guidelines for the peri-operative management of advanced ovarian cancer patients undergoing debulking surgery.

The European Society of Gynaecological Oncology (ESGO) developed and established for the first time in 2016, and updated in 2020, quality indicators for advanced ovarian cancer surgery to audit and improve clinical practice in Europe and beyond. As a sequela of the continuous effort to improve oncologic care in patients with ovarian cancer, ESGO issued in 2018 a consensus guidance jointly with the European Society of Medical Oncology addressing in a multidisciplinary fashion 20 selected key questions in the management of ovarian cancer, ranging from molecular pathology to palliation in primary and relapse disease. In order to complement the above achievements and consolidate the promoted systemic advances and surgical expertise with adequate peri-operative management, ESGO developed, as the next step, clinically relevant and evidence-based guidelines focusing on key aspects of peri-operative care and management of complications as part of its mission to improve the quality of care for women with advanced ovarian cancer and reduce iatrogenic morbidity. To do so, ESGO nominated an international multidisciplinary development group consisting of practicing clinicians and researchers who have demonstrated leadership and expertise in the care and research of ovarian cancer (18 experts across Europe). To ensure that the guidelines are evidence based, the literature published since 2015, identified from a systematic search, was reviewed and critically appraised. In the absence of any clear scientific evidence, judgment was based on the professional experience and consensus of the development group. The guidelines are thus based on the best available evidence and expert agreement. Prior to publication, the guidelines were reviewed by 117 independent international practitioners in cancer care delivery and patient representatives.

Maximal-Effort Cytoreductive Surgery for Ovarian Cancer Patients with a High Tumor Burden: Variations in Practice and Impact on Outcome.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to compare the outcomes of two distinct patient populations treated within two neighboring UK cancer centers (A and B) for advanced epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). METHODS: A retrospective analysis of all new stages 3 and 4 EOC patients treated between January 2013 and December 2014 was performed. The Mayo Clinic surgical complexity score (SCS) was applied. Cox regression analysis identified the impact of treatment methods on survival. RESULTS: The study identified 249 patients (127 at center A and 122 in centre B) without significant differences in International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage (FIGO 4, 29.7% at centers A and B), Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status (ECOG < 2, 89.9% at centers A and B), or histology (serous type in 84.1% at centers A and B). The patients at center A were more likely to undergo surgery (87% vs 59.8%; p < 0.001). The types of chemotherapy and the patients receiving palliative treatment alone were equivalent between the two centers (3.6%). The median SCS was significantly higher at center A (9 vs 2; p < 0.001) with greater tumor burden (9 vs 6 abdominal fields involved; p < 0.001), longer median operation times (285 vs 155 min; p < 0.001), and longer hospital stays (9 vs 6 days; p < 0.001), but surgical morbidity and mortality were equivalent. The independent predictors of reduced overall survival (OS) were non-serous histology (hazard ratio [HR], 1.6; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.04-2.61), ECOG higher than 2 (HR, 1.9; 95% CI 1.15-3.13), and palliation alone (HR, 3.43; 95% CI 1.51-7.81). Cytoreduction, of any timing, had an independent protective impact on OS compared with chemotherapy alone (HR, 0.31 for interval surgery and 0.39 for primary surgery), even after adjustment for other prognostic factors. CONCLUSIONS: Incorporating surgery into the initial EOC management, even for those patients with a greater tumor burden and more disseminated disease, may require more complex procedures and more resources in terms of theater time and hospital stay, but seems to be associated with a significant prolongation of the patients overall survival compared with chemotherapy alone.

Impact of right upper quadrant cytoreductive techniques with extensive liver mobilization on postoperative hepatic function and risk of liver failure in patients with advanced ovarian cancer.

OBJECTIVE: Evaluate postoperative hepatic-function in patients with advanced ovarian cancer (OC) who underwent extensive right upper-quadrant (RUQ) cytoreduction in primary, relapsed or interval settings. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed all patients with OC who underwent liver resection, mobilization and/or diaphragmatic-stripping between 01/2013 and 12/2016. Postoperative liver enzyme function (LFTs), assessed by alanine transaminase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and bilirubin (Bil), was correlated with postoperative complications. RESULTS: 132 patients were identified. 81 patients (61%) underwent upfront, 25(19%) interval and 26(20%) secondary cytoreduction. The surgical procedures were right diaphragmatic peritoneal stripping (81/132;61%), full-thickness resection (42/132;32%), liver-capsule resection (85/132;64%), porta-hepatis tumor resection (11/132;8%) and partial hepatectomy (5/132;4%). 74%(98/132) of patients increased their LFTs postoperatively with a peak at 24-hours. Highest ALT median was 1.7-fold of upper normal limit (UNL), with the highest ALT value rising up to 28-fold UNL on the 1st postoperative day (PoD)(range 6-1792 IU/L). Median value of highest ALP was within normal, with the highest ALP value rising up to 4-fold UNL on PoD 5(range 22-512 IU/L). Median value of highest Bilirubin level was also within normal, with highest Bilirubin level rising up to 6-fold UNL on PoD 5(range: 2-120 µmol/L). Mean LFT-normalization time was 7 days (range: 3-14 days). No significant morbidity was directly linked to LFT deterioration, apart from one case (0.8%) of fatal fulminant hepatic-failure. CONCLUSION: RUQ-cytoreduction is almost always associated with a transient LFT-increase, with no significant clinical implications and spontaneous normalization within the first postoperative week. Due to the existing risk of fulminant liver failure, albeit rare and difficult to predict, postoperatively elevated LFTs should be monitored, until normalization. Large prospective studies are required to assess the predictive value of LFTs and other risk factors for postoperative hepatic failure in patients with OC undergoing extensive RUQ-cytoreduction.

Surgery for Recurrent Uterine Cancer: Surgical Outcomes and Implications for Survival-A Case Series.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to describe the patterns of relapse in uterine cancer (UC) and the role of surgery in the recurrent setting. METHODS: We describe surgical and clinical outcomes of all patients who underwent surgery for recurrent UC in a gynecological oncology tertiary referral center between May 1, 2013, and April 30, 2016. Progression-free survival and overall survival were estimated using Kaplan-Meier methods with the surgery at relapse being the starting point. RESULTS: We evaluated 15 patients with a median age of 66 years. The predominant histology was the endometrioid variant (n = 11; 73.3%). The median interval between the end of previous treatment and relapse surgery was 24 months (range, 8-164). Locoregional pelvic recurrences were the most common type of recurrence (n = 13; 86.7%) with the para-aortic lymph node space being the most commonly affected extrapelvic site (13%). Patients predominantly presented with a multifocal pattern of relapse (n = 10; 66.7%) requiring multivisceral resections such as bowel (n = 7; 46.6%) and/or bladder/ureteric resections (n = 8; 53.3%) to achieve complete tumor clearance. All patients were operated tumor free with a 30-day major morbidity and mortality rate of 6.7% and 0%, respectively. Five patients (33.3%) received postoperative chemotherapy or radiotherapy. Five patients (33.3%) relapsed, and 3 died within a mean follow-up of 12.4 months (95% confidence interval [CI], 6.5-18.2). Two of those patients had a sarcoma.Mean progression-free survival and overall survival for the entire cohort postrelapse surgery was 21.7 months (95%CI, 13.9-29.5) and 26.0 months (95%CI, 18.4-33.7), respectively. Survival was significantly worse in patients with nonendometrioid histology (P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Surgery for UC relapse seems feasible with acceptable morbidity and high complete resection rates despite the multifocal patterns of relapse in a selected group of patients in a reference center for gynecological cancers. Larger scale studies are warranted to establish the value of surgery at relapse for UC.

Maximal effort cytoreductive surgery for disseminated ovarian cancer in a UK setting: challenges and possibilities.

OBJECTIVE: To assess surgical morbidity and mortality of maximal effort cytoreductive surgery for disseminated epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) in a UK tertiary center. METHODS/MATERIALS: A monocentric prospective analysis of surgical morbidity and mortality was performed for all consecutive EOC patients who underwent extensive cytoreductive surgery between 01/2013 and 12/2014. Surgical complexity was assessed by the Mayo clinic surgical complexity score (SCS). Only patients with high SCS ≥5 were included in the analysis. RESULTS: We evaluated 118 stage IIIC/IV patients, with a median age of 63 years (range 19-91); 47.5 % had ascites and 29 % a pleural effusion. Median duration of surgery was 247 min (range 100-540 min). Median surgical complexity score was 10 (range 5-15) consisting of bowel resection (71 %), stoma formation (13.6 %), diaphragmatic stripping/resection (67 %), liver/liver capsule resection (39 %), splenectomy (20 %), resection stomach/lesser sac (26.3 %), pleurectomy (17 %), coeliac trunk/subdiaphragmatic lymphadenectomy (8 %). Total macroscopic tumor clearance rate was 89 %. Major surgical complication rate was 18.6 % (n = 22), with a 28-day and 3-month mortality of 1.7 and 3.4 %, respectively. The anastomotic leak rate was 0.8 %; fistula/bowel perforation 3.4 %; thromboembolism 3.4 % and reoperation 4.2 %. Median intensive care unit and hospital stay were 1.7 (range 0-104) and 8 days (range 4-118), respectively. Four patients (3.3 %) failed to receive chemotherapy within the first 8 postoperative weeks. CONCLUSIONS: Maximal effort cytoreductive surgery for EOC is feasible within a UK setting with acceptable morbidity, low intestinal stoma rates and without clinically relevant delays to postoperative chemotherapy. Careful patient selection, and coordinated multidisciplinary effort appear to be the key for good outcome. Future evaluations should include quality of life analyses.