To determine the impact of delay between neoadjuvant chemotherapy and cytoreductive surgery on progression-free survival and overall survival in ovarian cancer.

All women diagnosed with stage III high-grade serous ovarian cancer who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy and underwent subsequent interval debulking surgery from January 2019 to January 2022 were included in this retrospective study. The patients were divided into two groups based on time to surgery >6 weeks and time to surgery< 6 weeks. The endpoint was taken as progression-free survival and overall survival on follow-up. Survival curves were constructed using the Kaplan-Meier method. 

Twenty one hundred patients were obtained from cancer registry who underwent surgery for ovarian cancer during the time defined in this study. Out of these 118 were identified to fulfill the inclusion criteria. 53 patients underwent surgery within 6 weeks of NACT whereas 65 had surgery at an interval of more than 6 weeks. Overall recurrence rate in this cohort was 64.4%. The rate of recurrence was comparable in the two groups undergoing surgery up to 6 weeks and beyond 6 weeks which was 67.9% and 61.5% respectively. The mean progression free survival was 15 months for patients with surgery done within 6 weeks and 18 months for those who had delayed surgery >6 weeks. This difference was not found to be statistically significant. (P=0.854) 

Delay from neoadjuvant chemotherapy to interval debulking surgery was not found to impact progression free survival.

Dr Kheyal Azam Khalil is a fellow in Gynecological Oncology at one of the biggest cancer centers of Pakistan. She completed her Obstetrics and Gynecology residency training in Pakistan and the UK. She has special interest in Gynecological Cancers and minimally invasive surgery.