Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of primary treatment for ovarian cancer from overall survival and progression-free survival.
Patients and methods: A total of 28 patients with epithelial ovarian cancer in stages III and IV who were primarily treated in our ward from 1993 were examined retrospectively. The Kaplan-Meier method and Harrington-Fleming test were carried out for the cumulative survival rate and analysis.
Results: There were significant differences in the progression-free survival rate depending on whether or not optimal debulking was possible through primary treatment (p = 0.0128) and whether the histological diagnosis was serous adenocarcinoma (p = 0.038). In the serous adenocarcinoma group, the periods of both overall survival and progression-free survival were longer in treatment with taxanes and platinum than by other regimens, but in the endometrioid adenocarcinoma group, the period of progression-free survival was very short.
Conclusions: Optimal debulking through primary treatment is critical in advanced ovarian cancer. Therapy with taxanes and platinum is efficacious for serous adenocarcinoma. The chemo-sensitivity of endometrioid adenocarcinoma is high, but the chemotherapeutic effect is only temporary.