Ovarian cancer liver metastases--should we apply the principle of optimal cytoreduction to the liver? A review.

Advanced stage ovarian cancer is a common situation at presentation and current medical practice lacks efficient methods of prevention and early diagnosis. Primary maximal cytoreductive surgery followed by adjuvant chemotherapy is currently a generally accepted principle; most patients however undergo recurrence and common therapeutical attitude is secondary cytoreduction based approximately on the same principles as the primary one. Due to the success of liver resections in colorectal metastases and the development of liver surgery in general, different centers worldwide analyzed in the last 20 years liver resections' utility for other primaries, including ovarian tumors.