Epithelial ovarian cancer in older women: defining the best management approach

Epithelial ovarian cancer is a cancer of older women. In fact, almost half of women diagnosed with ovarian cancer will be older than age 64, and 25% will be older than age 74. Therefore, it is crucial to examine the available data in older populations to optimize the therapeutic approach without negatively affecting the quality of life permanently. Unfortunately, little prospective data are available in this under-represented population of women. Although ovarian cancer traditionally has been approached with aggressive cytoreductive surgery, older patients may benefit from a less aggressive surgical approach and, in some cases, may be candidates for neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by an interval cytoreduction. Modalities do exist for assessing an older woman's ability to tolerate surgery and chemotherapy, and these tools should be familiar to clinicians who are caring for this population of women in making treatment decisions. Ongoing planned trials to evaluate pretreatment assessment for older patients will provide objective, feasible, clinical tools for applying our treatment-based knowledge. Future trials of both surgery and chemotherapy, including a focus on the sequence of these two treatment modalities, are crucial to guide decision making in this vulnerable population and to improve outcomes for all.