Objectives: To evaluate the feasibility and associated survival outcome of secondary cytoreductive surgery in patients with isolated lymph node recurrence of epithelial ovarian cancer.
Methods: Twenty-five patients with epithelial ovarian cancer who underwent secondary cytoreductive surgery for isolated lymph node recurrence were identified from tumor registry databases. Demographic, diagnostic, operative, pathologic, and follow-up data were abstracted retrospectively. Overall survival was calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method.
Results: The median age at time of primary surgery for ovarian cancer was 55 years; 72% of patients had FIGO III/IV disease, and all had high-grade tumors. All patients received platinum-based chemotherapy following primary surgery. The median time from completion of primary chemotherapy to nodal recurrence surgery was 16 months (range=6 to 40 months). The distribution of nodal involvement was pelvic=12% (n=3), para-aortic=60% (n=15), inguinal=20% (n=5), peri-cardiac=4% (n=1), and pelvic plus para-aortic=4% (n=1). The maximal nodal tumor diameter ranged from 1.5 cm to 14 cm, with a median of 3.0 cm. Optimal secondary cytoreductive surgery (residual disease </=1 cm) was achieved in 100% of patients. The median estimated intra-operative blood loss was 100 cc (range=10 cc to 600 cc). The length of hospitalization ranged from 2 days to 10 days, with a median of 4 days. There was no instance significant postoperative morbidity. At a median post-recurrence follow-up time of 19 months, 8 patients (32%) have died of the disease, 7 (28%) are alive with disease, and 10 (40%) patients are without evidence of disease. For the entire study population, the median post-recurrence OS after secondary cytoreduction of recurrent nodal disease was 37 months.
Conclusion: Complete optimal secondary cytoreductive surgery for recurrent epithelial ovarian cancer presenting as isolated node metastases is achievable in the majority of cases and is associated with a favorable long-term survival outcome.