Cytoreductive surgery in the primary management of advanced epithelial ovarian carcinoma: A topic for debate

While there is no doubt that surgical resection of early stage ovarian cancer can be curative, the effect of cytoreductive surgery on the prognosis in advanced disease is less certain. A recent EORTC study does suggest that intervention debulking surgery might improve survival and this requires urgent confirmation. Extensive cytoreductive surgery, removing bowel, parts of the urinary tract or lymph nodes, may have little impact on the survival of women with advanced disease and can result in substantial morbidity. Discretion and experience are required in determining the appropriate radicality of tumor resection to avoid predictable impairment of quality of life.