Limited invasiveness to assess retroperitoneal spread in stage I-II ovarian carcinoma.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the incidence of retroperitoneal metastases, survival rate and site of recurrence in early ovarian tumors undergoing limited retroperitoneal surgery.

METHOD: Three hundred seventy-three consecutive patients underwent assessment of the retroperitoneum consisting of intraoperative palpation with or without biopsies.

RESULTS

Retroperitoneal metastases were detected in 10 stage-I tumors (3.2%) and in 10 stage-II tumors (16%). The risk was inversely related to tumor differentiation. Palpation revealed metastases in 10 cases. During follow-up, none of the borderline tumors (1.9% of stage-I grade-1 node-negative, 2.7% of grade-2 and 7.0% of grade-3 tumors) recurred in the retroperitoneum. In stage II, two recurrences were observed in grade-2 tumors (11%) and one in grade 3 (4.5%).

CONCLUSION

Limited retroperitoneal surgery enables satisfactory outcome in early ovarian cancers. Risk of retroperitoneal recurrence is minimal in grade 1 and non-existent in borderline tumors. Less differentiated tumors have low risk but further investigation of the therapeutic role of lymphadenectomy is justified.