The interval from surgery to chemotherapy in the treatment of advanced epithelial ovarian carcinoma

Background To study the effect of the interval between surgery and the start of chemotherapy in the treatment of patients with advanced ovarian cancer. Methods We stratified patients according to the start of platinum-based chemotherapy in group 1 (within 4 weeks from surgery), group 2 (between 4 and 8 weeks) and group 3 (between 8 and 12 weeks). Results Three hundred and ninty-four stage III ovarian cancer patients were analysed. In the multivariate analysis there were no differences in survival according to the interval between surgery and chemotherapy among the three groups. The independent prognostic variables were type of procedure (p=0.014), performance status (p=0.040) and post-chemotherapy CA-125 (p<0.0001). Conclusions The interval between surgery and chemotherapy does not affect outcome.