Laparoscopic Versus Open Surgery for Advanced-Stage Ovarian Cancer: A 10-Year Data Analysis

Objective The study's objective is to compare long- and short-term surgical outcomes as well as progression-free and overall survival in patients with laparoscopic versus open surgery for advanced-stage ovarian cancer. Methods A total of 171 patients with advanced stage III/IV ovarian cancer who underwent ovarian cancer surgery were included in this retrospective cohort study. The surgeries performed from January 2014 to January 2024 were reviewed. Patient characteristics, such as age, BMI, cancer histology and stage, and treatment received (chemotherapy and surgery), will be noted. The study compares surgical outcomes as well as overall survival and progression-free survival (PFS) in patients. Results The mean age of this study cohort was 53.47 ± 11 years (range 27-87 years) with an average BMI of 27.7 ± 5.8. 17 (10%) patients had total laparoscopic surgery, whereas 154 (90%) patients had open surgery with a midline incision. Interestingly, patients receiving an extra cycle of chemotherapy pre-operatively were found to have undergone laparoscopic surgery (p = 0.009). The average blood loss for the laparoscopy group was 82 ± 50 mL, whereas with open surgery, it was 164 ± 125 mL. On the other hand, the average length of surgery was longer for laparoscopy (231 ± 94 minutes) as compared to open surgery. The length of hospital stay was shorter for the laparoscopy group (3.24 ± 1.2 days). The overall and PFS were longer in the open surgery group, but this difference was not statistically significant. Conclusion Laparoscopy offers short-term benefit in terms of intraoperative and postoperative indicators, but no significant survival benefit was noted in one group over the other.