Practice patterns of surgery for advanced ovarian cancer: analysis from international surveys

We investigated the practice patterns of surgery for advanced ovarian cancer (AOC) through relevant international surveys.

After searching for 878 studies on surgery for AOC till 2017, we extracted 18 questions with similar query and answer formats from eight studies. Among them, 5 and 13 were classified as comprehensive and procedure information.

In comprehensive information, there was a higher preference for optimal cytoreduction defined as no visible tumor (44%) compared with residual tumors <1 cm (38%) or <2 cm (2%) and omental disease involving the spleen or pancreas was more important as an intraoperative finding precluding optimal cytoreduction (35%) since 2010. The preference for neoadjuvant chemotherapy was the highest at its use for 1-10% (36%), which was preferred in Europe over USA. The positive expectation of preoperative determination of optimal cytoreduction was higher in Europe than in USA (44 vs. 27%; P < 0.05). In procedure information, conventional gynecological surgery was mainly performed by gynecological oncologists, whereas more than 50% of upper abdominal or urological surgeries were conducted by other surgeons. European clinicians showed a higher response rate of diaphragmatic stripping and resection than those from USA (88 vs. 60%; 69 vs. 24%; P < 0.05).

No visible tumor as the criterion for optimal cytoreduction was preferred in AOC, and aggressive surgery beyond conventional gynecological surgery tended to be performed by other surgeons. Moreover, the preference of neoadjuvant chemotherapy and the positive expectation of preoperative determination of optimal cytoreduction were higher in Europe than in USA.