Neo-adjuvant chemotherapy does not reduce surgical complexity nor the accuracy of intra-operative visual assessment of disease in advanced ovarian cancer.

AIM: Compare the surgical complexity and histological accuracy of visual inspection of disease in patients undergoing primary debulking (PDS) versus delayed debulking surgery (DDS) following neo-adjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) for advanced ovarian cancer (AOC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: All patients undergoing PDS or DDS for stage III / IV AOC at a UK cancer centre between January 2014-October 2021 were included. Retrospective data was collected accessing an electronic gynaecological oncology database, operation and histology records. Comparative frequencies of surgical procedures performed were calculated for primary versus delayed cohorts; and correlation between intra-operative suspicion of disease and specimen histology at PDS and DDS compared. RESULTS: N=232. PDS was performed in 45.3% and DDS in 54.7% of patients; achieving complete cytoreduction in 77.2%. Appendicectomy, pelvic and para-aortic nodal dissection were undertaken significantly more often at primary surgery; whilst right diaphragm stripping, pelvic peritonectomy, splenectomy and cholecystectomy were more likely following NACT. We found no variation in bowel resection rates between cohorts. For the majority of specimens, there was no difference in correlation between intra-operative suspicion of disease and final histopathology - with a significantly lower positive predictive value for visual assessment demonstrated only for liver capsule and pelvic peritoneum at DDS. CONCLUSION: NACT does not appear to reduce the complexity of surgery, including rates of bowel resection; nor accuracy of intra-operative visual assessment of disease. We therefore caution against both deferring to NACT to facilitate less radical delayed debulking; and any presumption that macroscopically abnormal tissue at DDS may represent inert post-NACT 'burn-out', mitigating indication for excision. We instead suggest reservation of the neo-adjuvant pathway for patients with poor PS and radiologically-confirmed surgical stopping points; and advocate equivalent and maximal cytoreductive effort to remove all visibly abnormal tissue in both the upfront and delayed surgical settings.

Lactate Is a Reliable Predictor of ICU Length of Stay Following Ultra-radical Ovarian Cancer Surgery.

BACKGROUND/AIM: With a greater proportion of women with advanced ovarian cancer (AOC) successfully undergoing radical cytoreductive surgery, the demand on peri-operative resources - including intensive care (ICU) beds - is also on the rise. Extended post-operative ICU length of stay (LOS) confers increased patient morbidity and mortality. Several variables associated with prolonged ICU LOS following AOC surgery have been identified. We aimed to evaluate the predictive value of serum lactate levels. PATIENTS AND METHODS: All patients undergoing ultra-radical surgery for AOC in a large cancer centre over a 34-month period between 2018-2021 were identified via the institution tumour registry. Data were collected retrospectively via electronic care and operating records; biochemistry, radiology, and histopathology databases. RESULTS: In total, 63 patients were identified. Elevated intra-operative serum lactate levels were associated with significantly longer length of ICU post-operative stay. Longer time for hyperlactaemia to normalise following surgery also conferred significantly longer ICU, high dependency and total hospital LOS. Greater blood loss, higher surgical complexity and peritoneal carcinomatosis score, and longer operating time were associated with higher - and persistently elevated - peri-operative lactate levels. CONCLUSION: Serum lactate in the context of ultra-radical surgery for AOC represents an accessible and inexpensive marker with potential to not only reliably predict LOS, but also to serve as a dynamic prompt for early targeted intervention. Early recognition and correction of hyperlactaemia following AOC may reduce ICU LOS limiting both the resource pressure and patient morbidity/mortality sequelae.