Surgical cytoreduction for recurrent epithelial ovarian cancer.

The standard management of primary ovarian cancer is optimal cytoreductive surgery followed by platinum-based chemotherapy. Most women with primary ovarian cancer achieve remission on this combination therapy. For women achieving clinical remission after completion of initial treatment, most (60%) with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer will ultimately develop recurrent disease. However, the standard treatment of women with recurrent ovarian cancer remains poorly defined. Surgery for recurrent ovarian cancer has been suggested to be associated with increased overall survival.