Controversial issues in the management of early epithelial ovarian cancer: conservative surgery and role of adjuvant therapy.

The feasibility of conservative surgery and the role of postoperative adjuvant therapy are still controversial issues in the management of early ovarian cancer. Data on 99 patients below the age of 40 with stage I ovarian cancer are reported and conservative surgery was performed in 56 (56%) patients (36 stage Ia, 1 stage Ib, and 19 stage Ic). Relapse occurred in 3 stage Ia (grades 1, 2, and 3) patients, but only 1 occurrence was in the residual ovary and the patient was rescued by surgery. The other 2 patients who relapsed in distant sites died as a result of their tumors. Seventeen patients who desired to become pregnant did so for a total of 25 conceptions. These data support the possibility of some extension of the traditional conservative approach. Only two randomized studies so far have tested cisplatin as an adjuvant treatment of early disease. A Norwegian trial compared cisplatin to 32P in stage I-III ovarian cancer without residual tumor after primary surgery and found no difference in survival. An Italian study compared cisplatin to observation in stage Ia and Ib grade 2 and 3 tumors and cisplatin to 32P in stage Ic patients. While disease-free survival was statically longer in cisplatin-treated patients of both groups, no difference in survival could be detected. These results supported the design of a currently ongoing multicenter trial testing platinum-based therapy soon after surgery or at time of relapse.