Surgical procedures for ovarian cancer

The management of 191 patients with ovarian cancer is presented. A significant proportion of these patients were initially seen (16%) or operated on (7%) by a general surgeon. The current surgical approach to this disease should be aggressive, and in 23% of these patients a non-gynaecological surgical procedure was required. Although chemotherapy is the main form of treatment following surgery, its chances of success are influenced by the amount of tumour left after surgery. The picture is not uniformly hopeless, and of 34 patients who subsequently underwent laparotomy to check the effectiveness of chemotherapy, 10 (29%) had no evidence of disease. Palliative surgery also has an important place in the management of this disease to provide comfort from disabling symptoms, and in some cases it may prolong life.