Abdominal chemotherapy boosts survival in ovarian cancer patients

Women with Stage III ovarian cancer given a combination of intravenous and intraperitoneal chemotherapy following surgical debulking of tumor had a median survival nearly 16 months longer than women who received IV chemotherapy alone, according to a study published conducted by the Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG), a National Cancer Institute-supported research network, in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The study, led by Deborah Armstrong at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center in Baltimore, Maryland, builds upon evidence from eight other clinical trials showing an overall survival benefit of approximately one year for women treated with IP chemotherapy after "optimal debulking"-surgery to remove most, if not all, of the cancer in the abdomen.

Based on this overwhelming evidence, the NCI issued a clinical announcement encouraging the administration of a combination of intravenous (IV, into a vein) and intraperitoneal (IP, delivered directly into the abdomen or peritoneal cavity) chemotherapy to women with advanced ovarian cancer, who have undergone optimal surgical debulking.

The University of Chicago Hospitals participated in the NCI-supported clinical trials which led to this clinical announcement.

"We are making incremental improvements in the survival of women with ovarian cancer," said Diane Yamada, MD, principal investigator for the GOG at the University of Chicago and section chief for gynecologic oncology.

"The results of this GOG trial highlight two important points," she added. "First is the importance of clinical trial participation for patients diagnosed with gynecologic malignancies, and second is the importance of being adequately educated about who is performing your surgery and what their qualifications are when you, as a patient, potentially have an ovarian cancer."

The trial involved 429 women with stage III ovarian cancer who were given chemotherapy following the surgical removal of tumors. Investigators randomly grouped women into two categories: those who would get all chemotherapy intravenously or those who would get chemotherapy both intravenously and IP, through a spaghetti-like tube called a catheter that was inserted directly into the peritoneal cavity.

"The catheter allows us to bathe the entire abdominal area with a high concentration of chemotherapy for a long period of time, which appears to be better at destroying lingering cancer cells," said Hopkins' Armstrong.

While the abdominal area is the main site for ovarian cancer spread, the intravenous route of chemotherapy is needed to catch cancer cells that may have spread outside the abdomen.

Overall survival for 205 patients receiving IP chemotherapy in the study was an average of 65.6 months, a 25 percent improvement over the intravenous-only group (49.7 months) of 210 patients.

Similarly, relapse-free survival for those receiving intraperitoneal chemo was 23.8 months compared with 18.3 months for the intravenous-alone group, a 20 percent improvement.