Questionnaire-based survey on the extent of lymph node dissection during interval debulking surgery after neoadjuvant chemotherapy for patients with advanced ovarian cancer in the Gynecologic Cancer Study Group of JCOG.

BACKGROUND

The significance of lymph node dissection (LND) in primary debulking surgery (PDS) for advanced ovarian cancer was demonstrated in the LION trial. However, the role and the current practices of LND during interval debulking surgery (IDS) remains unclear. We aimed to conduct a survey of the current LND practices.

METHODS

A questionnaire-based survey regarding the criteria and extent of LND for advanced ovarian cancer was conducted by the Gynecologic Cancer Study Group of the Japan Clinical Oncology Group (JCOG). We defined enlarged lymph nodes as 10 mm or more in the short axis on imaging.

RESULTS

This study included data from 51 institutions. Factors contributing to the decision regarding the extent of LND included performance status, completeness of cytoreductive surgery excluding the lymph nodes, and age. Regarding PDS cases with enlarged lymph nodes, 90% of all institutions opted for systematic LND (SyLND) or removal of only the enlarged lymph nodes (SeLND). In IDS cases with enlarged lymph nodes after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT), 15 (29%) and 35 (69%) institutions opted for SyLND and SeLND, respectively. In contrast, in IDS cases in which enlarged lymph nodes were reduced after NACT, approximately half the institutions opted for no LND.

CONCLUSION

This study found no established standard treatment for LND during IDS in patients with enlarged lymph nodes among the JCOG institutions. Thus, further prospective studies comparing the prognostic outcomes with or without LND are warranted.