The effect of lymphadenectomy in advanced ovarian cancer according to residual tumor status: A population-based study.

BACKGROUND

We investigated the effect of lymphadenectomy on the survival outcomes of patients with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database according to residual disease status.

METHODS

We evaluated 3048 patients with International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stage-IIIC-IV epithelial ovarian cancer. We assessed the effect of lymphadenectomy stratified by residual disease size on cause-specific survival (CSS).

RESULTS

A total of 1904 (62.5%) patients received lymphadenectomy, and 1355 (71.2%) patients had nodal metastases. Lymph-node status had no significant association with residual tumor size in the lymphadenectomy group. In multivariate analysis, lymphadenectomy was associated with a significantly better CSS and was an independent prognostic factor for CSS. Patients with >10 lymph nodes removed had better CSS compared with non-lymphadenectomy and 1-10 lymph nodes removed groups. Lymphadenectomy was associated with a significantly better CSS in patients with no gross residual tumor, but not in patients with residual tumor ≤1 cm or >1 cm.

CONCLUSIONS

Lymphadenectomy is significantly associated with a better survival outcome in patients advanced ovarian cancer, but its positive effect diminishes as residual tumor size increases.