The standard treatment program for advanced ovarian cancer today consists of cytoreductive surgery and chemotherapy including platinum drugs. However, numerous clinical studies conducted years ago show that the overall survival rate of patients who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy is no lower than that of those who underwent cytoreduction.
These results have significantly influenced the frequency of neoadjuvant chemotherapy use in hospitals in many countries. In the United States, however, the choice of treatment between neoadjuvant chemotherapy and cytoreductive surgery has always been a controversial issue.
To clarify the issue, there have been many additional studies evaluating the pros and cons of neoadjuvant chemotherapy for ovarian cancer patients. And this time the results were quite contradictory. As examinations show, patients with stage 3 ovarian cancer have a lower overall survival rate than those patients who did not receive this type of chemotherapy.
Studies were conducted on overall survival in neoadjuvant chemotherapy treatment of stage 3 and 4 cancer patients. In this case, a positive prognosis was noted in patients with stage 3 disease: significant shrinkage of the tumor, and no need for hospitalization.
From these observations, we can conclude that neoadjuvant therapy is indicated for patients with less advanced cancer. But before choosing a treatment, you should take into account your medical history and the results of diagnostic tests. Nevertheless, the frequency of neoadjuvant chemotherapy among patients with ovarian cancer has increased markedly
