SGO conference: Delaying Chemo Ups Mortality in Ovarian Cancer

Medpage

"......Investigators found that 450 patients (>25%) started chemotherapy more than 40 days after surgery.
Comparison of the interval to chemotherapy and log hazard ratio for survival showed that the hazard began to increase after 25 days.....

Action Points

• This study was published as an abstract and presented at a conference. These data and conclusions should be considered to be preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.
• Women with advanced ovarian cancer had significantly worse survival when they started chemotherapy more than 25 days after surgery.
• Note that patients with microscopic residual disease after surgery faced a greater mortality risk compared with the overall population of women with ovarian cancer.

".....Previous studies of the relationship between delay to chemotherapy and survival in ovarian cancer involved retrospective data, single institutions, and heterogeneous patient populations and treatment. The analysis of GOG 218 used prospectively collected data from a large population of patients who received standardized care and contemporary therapy, including a targeted agent, Eskander noted.
During the discussion that followed, a SGO attendee referred to studies reported more than 20 years ago, documenting rapid regrowth of ovarian cancer cells during the first 4 to 7 days after cytoreductive surgery.
The European Organization for Treatment and Research in Cancer (EORTC) tried without success to develop a study of early chemotherapy, within 4 days after surgery. The EORTC subsequently did identify day 20 after surgery as the "D Day" for chemotherapy.....