[Comprehensive staging laparotomy in stage I epithelial ovarian cancer]

To evaluate the significance of comprehensive staging laparotomy in stage I epithelial ovarian cancer.

Forty-three patients with stage I epithelial ovarian cancer were divided into 3 groups and retrospectively analysed. Thirty two of these patients allotted to stage I ovarian cancer according to FIGO criteria were ascertained by comprehensive staging laparotomy (group A), 5 patients were upstaged following comprehensive staging laparotomy (group B) and 6 patients were staged without comprehensive laparotomy (group C).

The mean operation time was 2 hours and 40 minutes, the mean volume of blood loss was 460 ml and no severe complications occurred during the comprehensive staging laparotomies. 13.5% (5/31) of patients were found to have retroperitoneal metastasis and then therefore were upstaged as stage III. Group A and B had better prognosis. During the 39.7 months followup period, tumor-free survival rates in group A and B were 97% (31/37) and 5/5 respectively. In group C, 2 patients recurrent and one died of the diseases, a tumor-free survival rates of 4/6. There was a significant difference in tumor-free survival rates between group A and C (P = 0.038).

Comprehensive staging laparotomy should be considered as an important criterion in FIGO staging of epithelial ovarian cancer and a standard procedure in the treatment of stage I epithelial ovarian cancer.