Lymph Node Involvement Pattern and Survival Differences of FIGO IIIC and FIGO IIIA1 Ovarian Cancer Patients After Primary Complete Tumor Debulking Surgery: A 10-Year Retrospective Analysis of the Tumor Bank Ovarian Cancer Network

Objective The main goal of the current study was to compare survival differences among subgroups of primary ovarian cancer patients in International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stages IIIC and IIIA1 after complete tumor debulking surgery. Methods A total of 218 patients with primary ovarian cancer who received complete cytoreductive surgery were included in the current retrospective analysis of the validated Tumor Bank Ovarian Cancer Network Database, which covers the periods January 2002 until December 2012. According to their tumor spread pattern, patients were divided into three groups: Group A (peritoneum only), Group B (peritoneum and lymph nodes), and Group C (lymph nodes only). Associations between groups and clinicopathological factors were analyzed using standard statistical procedures. Results The vast majority of patients were classified into Group B. Lymph node involvement was detected in 70.5 % of the cases where peritoneal implants presented ≥2 cm beyond the pelvis (Group A + B). The estimated 5-year overall survival (OS) rates were 47.4 % in Group A, 45.1 % in Group B, and 91.7 % in Group C ( p