Primary adjunctive whole abdominal radiotherapy in epithelial ovarian cancer: results of 10-years' experience.

During a 10-year period from January 1, 1979, 59 patients out of a total of 203 undergoing definitive treatment for epithelial ovarian cancer were managed with primary adjuvant whole abdominal radiotherapy after initial cytoreductive surgery. The median survival of this group was 53 months. The serious morbidity rate was approximately 8% with 4 laparotomies for bowel complications and 1 death following radiation related liver failure. This form of adjuvant therapy in appropriately selected patients with minimal residual disease merits further evaluation against other forms of therapy such as systemic or intraperitoneal chemotherapy.