Researchers from Loyola University Health System (LUHS) have found that pelvic radiotherapy (RT) may help treat a rare form of ovarian cancer that can recur in women after surgery and chemotherapy. The study examined 56 patients with ovarian clear cell adenocarcinoma (CCA), an aggressive form of ovarian cancer that is more likely to be resistant to chemotherapy and to have a poorer prognosis than other forms of this disease.

“Despite the intense therapeutic and surgical regimen typically used to treat ovarian cancer, outcomes remain poor,” said senior author William Small Jr., MD, chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology, LUHS (IL, USA). “This study provided encouraging preliminary results for the use of RT in women with ovarian cancer." The findings have been published in the International Journal of Gynecological Cancer.

For this study, the LUHS team analysed medical data from ovarian CCA patients treated between 1989 and 2012. The 56 patients chosen had been histologically diagnosed with pure ovary CCA, were classified as surgical stage I-to-IIIC of the disease and had received chemotherapy.

All but one patient in the study received chemotherapy for a median of six cycles, while six patients received pelvic RT and 50 did not, the research team explained. Key findings of the study include:

  • Ovarian cancer initially recurred in the pelvis of 25 percent of patients while nearly 11 percent had disease recurrence outside of the pelvis.
  • Rates of recurrence were 28 percent, 39 percent and 43 percent at three-, five- and eight-year follow-up points, respectively.

The results showed a trend toward a reduction in the incidence of tumour recurrence in patients who had pelvic RT, the LUHS researchers noted.

“Pelvic RT after chemotherapy may be more beneficial in treating this form of ovarian cancer compared with other types,” Dr. Small said. “However, additional research is needed to further evaluate the therapy for this type of ovarian cancer.”

LUHS, a member of Trinity Health, is based in the western suburbs of Chicago. It is a quaternary care system with a 61-acre main medical centre campus, the 36-acre Gottlieb Memorial Hospital campus and more than 30 primary and specialty care facilities in Cook, Will and DuPage counties. The heart of the medical centre campus is a 559-licensed-bed hospital that houses a Level 1 Trauma Center, a Burn Center and the Ronald McDonald® Children's Hospital of Loyola University Medical Center.

Trinity Health has been at the forefront of enacting meaningful health care reform since 2006. Through its "Lead the Way" campaign, Trinity Health is encouraging the nation's leaders to work toward a system that provides affordable coverage and high-value, coordinated care to every patient.

Source: Newswise.com
Image Credit: National Ovarian Cancer Network

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Radiotherapy, Surgery, Chemotherapy, ovarian cancer, pelvic Researchers from Loyola University Health System (LUHS) have found that pelvic radiotherapy (RT) may help treat a rare form of ovarian cancer that can recu...