Intensive surgical and chemotherapeutic management of advanced ovarian cancer.

We have presented the background and rationale for initiating a program of intensive surgical and chemotherapeutic management of advanced ovarian cancer. Our goal of excising all tumor masses larger than 1.5 cm in diameter has been explained and our operative approach described. The necessity for nutritional support has been emphasized. Preliminary results among patients with Stage III disease treated by optimal operation and Adriamycin-cyclophosphamide chemotherapy are encouraging. Aggressive operations have been unsuccessful when employed as secondary treatment. The single most important contraindication to extensive operation is the inability to initiate effective chemotherapy in the postoperative period.