Ovarian tumors

STAGING & MANAGEMENT

TREATMENT OF OVARIAN CYSTS AND BENIGN TUMORS

Ovarian cysts < 6 cms usually regress by absorption or spontaneous
rupture and the patient may be managed conservatively over 2 menstrual cycles with monthly rectovaginal examination.

If regression fails to occur, assessment is indicated Diagnostic tests include laboratory blood studies and pelvic
examination. Usually, ultrasound studies with and without blood flow measurements to the involved ovary are used for diagnosis and to help determine the best therapy. malignancy, or to treat. If one ovary must be removed, normal conception and childbirth is possible as long as a normal ovary remains on the other side.

Some tumors require surgery to diagnose accurately, ruling out

Medication

Female hormones or clomiphene may be prescribed.

These help shrink or destroy some tumors. Oral contraceptives are often used as the first step in treatment.

LAPAROSCOPY

Ovarian cyst and benign tumors can also be resected by

this technique

Staging The Federation Internationale de Gynecologie et d'Obstetrique (FIGO) and the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) have designated staging.

Stage I ovarian cancer

limited to the ovaries.
Stage IA: tumour limited to 1 ovary, the capsule is intact, no tumour on ovarian surface and no malignant cells in ascites or peritoneal washings. Stage IB: tumour limited to both ovaries, capsules intact, no tumour on ovarian surface and no malignant cells in ascites or peritoneal washings. Stage IC: tumour is limited to 1 or both ovaries with any of the following: capsule ruptured, tumour on ovarian surface, malignant cells in ascites or peritoneal washings.

Stage II ovarian cancer

tumors involving 1 or both ovaries with pelvic
extension and/or implants. Stage IIA: extension and/or implants on the uterus and/or fallopian tubes. No malignant cells in ascites or peritoneal washings. Stage IIB: extension to and/or implants on other pelvic tissues. No malignant cells in ascites or peritoneal washings. Stage IIC: Pelvic extension and/or implants (stage IIA or stage IIB) with malignant cells in ascites or peritoneal washings.

Stage III ovarian cancer

tumours involving 1 or both ovaries with microscopically

confirmed peritoneal implants outside the pelvis. Superficial liver metastasis equals stage III. Stage IIIA: microscopic peritoneal metastasis beyond pelvis (no macroscopic tumour). Stage IIIB: macroscopic peritoneal metastasis beyond pelvis less than 2 cm in greatest dimension. Stage IIIC: peritoneal metastasis beyond pelvis greater than 2 cm in greatest dimension and/or regional lymph node metastasis.

Stage IV ovarian cancer

tumours involving 1 or both ovaries with distant metastasis. Parenchymal liver metastasis equals stage IV.

Management

Treatment Options
The treatment of ovarian cancers based on the

stage of the disease which is a reflection of the extent or spread of the cancer to other parts of the body. It also depends on histologic cell type, and the patient's age and overall condition. There are basically three forms of treatment of ovarian cancer:
surgery Chemotherapy radiation treatment,

GENERAL GUIDELINES:
Standard treatment is surgery (staging and optimal

debulking) followed by adjuvant chemotherapy in most cases. Even if optimal surgery is not possible, removing as much tumor as possible will provide significant palliation of symptoms.

Borderline lesions may be treated with conservative

surgery

GENERAL GUIDELINES:
Germ cell tumors are treated with surgery and multiagent chemotherapy in most cases

Advanced epithelial ovarian cancer is very sensitive to

chemotherapy with responses in the range of 70-80% to first-line chemotherapy. The majority, however, relapse and ultimately die of chemotherapy-resistant disease. Second-line chemotherapy to date is disappointing in all forms of epithelial ovarian cancer with virtually no chance of successful second-line treatment following failure of initial regime.

SURGERY

Treatment of Ovarian Epithelial Cancer

Stage I
Generally a total abdominal hysterectomy, removal of
both ovaries and fallopian tubes, omentectomy, biopsy of lymph nodes and other tissues in the pelvis and abdomen,is done. Young women whose disease is confined to one ovary are often treated by a unilateral salpingo-oophorectomy without a hysterectomy and removal of the opposite ovary being performed

Depending on the pathologist's interpretation of the

tissue removed, there may be no further treatment if the cancer is low grade, or if the tumor is high grade the patient may receive combination chemotherapy.

Stage II
Treatment is almost always hysterectomy and bilateral

salpingo-oophorectomy as well as debulking of as much of the tumor as possible and sampling of lymph nodes and other tissues in the pelvis and abdomen that are suspected of harboring cancer. After the surgical procedure, treatment may be one of the following: 1) combination chemotherapy with or without radiation therapy or 2) combination chemotherapy.

Stage III

Treatment is the same as for Stage II ovarian cancer.

Following the surgical procedure, the patient may either receive combination chemotherapy possibly followed by additional surgery to find and remove any remaining cancer.

Stage IV
CYTOREDUCTIVE SURGERY/DEBULKING:
surgery to remove as much of the tumor as possible. Most researchers consider residual disease of <1 cm to be optimal debulking surgery. followed by combination chemotherapy

Trial of 146 patients with stage III and IV ovarian cancer treated with cisplatin at Rosewell park Cancer Institute:
SIZE OF RESIDUAL DISEASE

SURVIVAL
5 YEARS 8 YEARS

<1 CM
1-2 CMS >2 CMS

56%
19% 13%

42%
10% 8.7%

CHEMOTHERAPY
Prolongs remission and survival Also used for palliative treatment in advanced n
recurrent disease

Administered in all cases beyond stage Ia

Earlier single agents were used, nowadays combination

therapy is favoured

CHEMOTHERAPY
No chemotherapeutic agent kills all cancer cells in one
treatment ,Tf treatment needs to be repeated several times

All agents used should be active against that particular

tumor

should have different modes of action to avoid drug

resistance n should have differenr mechanisms of toxicity.

CHEMOTHERAPY
This allows each of them to be used as nearv to the full
dose as possible.

Drugs are given at 3 weeks intervals

Intraperitoneal chemotherapy is also done

 The initial treatment of ovarian cancer is called firstline therapy.

If the cancer continues to grow with first-line therapy or

returns after first-line therapy, additional treatment, called second-line therapy, may be administered.

If the tumor continues to grow after second-line

therapy, the next therapy is called third-line therapy, and so on.

First-Line Chemotherapy
First-line chemotherapy for ovarian cancer typically
consists of two drugs given together. The combination =paclitaxel + platinum drugeither carboplatin or cisplatin. chemotherapy directly into the abdomencalled intraperitoneal therapyin addition to conventional intravenous administration.

Select women may benefit from administration of

Second-Line Chemotherapy
The choice of drugs for second-line therapy depends
largely on which drugs were administered for first-line therapy and how long it has been since the first-line therapy was stopped. cancer that has returned: GEMZAR (gemcitabine HCl for injection) plus another chemotherapy, carboplatin, is indicated ,6 months after their first-line therapy;

chemotherapy drugs) for the treatment of ovarian

Second-Line Chemotherapy
Hycamtin (topotecan HCl for injection) is indicated as a
single agent (one drug) for the treatment of ovarian cancer upon failure of first-line therapy;

and Doxil (doxorubicin HCl liposome injection) is

approved for use to treat women whose cancer has returned following first-line therapy.

NICE guidelines for the use of chemotherapy

It is recommended that paclitaxel in combination with a platinum-based compound or platinum-based therapy alone (cisplatin or carboplatin) are offered as alternatives for first-line chemotherapy (usually following surgery) in the treatment of ovarian cancer.
When relapse occurs after an initial (or subsequent) course of first-line chemotherapy, additional courses of treatment should be considered, using different treatment options.

NICE guidelines for the use of chemotherapy (contd..)

The following definitions are used by NICE:

Platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer: disease that responds to first-line

platinum-based therapy but relapses 12 months or more after completion of initial platinum-based chemotherapy.

Partially platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer: disease that responds to

first-line platinum-based therapy but relapses between 6 and 12 months after completion of initial platinum-based chemotherapy.

Platinum-resistant ovarian cancer: disease that relapses within 6

months of completion of initial platinum-based chemotherapy.Platinum-refractory ovarian cancer: disease that does not respond to initial platinum-based chemotherapy.

NICE guidelines for the use of chemotherapy (contd)

Paclitaxel in combination with a platinum-based compound (carboplatin or cisplatin) is recommended as an option for the second-line (or subsequent) treatment of women with platinumsensitive or partially platinum-sensitive advanced ovarian cancer, except in women who are allergic to platinum-based compounds. Single-agent paclitaxel is recommended as an option for the second-line (or subsequent) treatment of women with platinumrefractory or platinum-resistant advanced ovarian cancer, and for women who are allergic to platinum-based compounds. PLDH (pegylated liposomal doxorubicin hydrochloride) is recommended as an option for the second-line (or subsequent) treatment of women with partially platinum-sensitive, platinumresistant or platinum-refractory advanced ovarian cancer, and for women who are allergic to platinum-based compounds.

NICE guidelines for the use of chemotherapy (contd.)

Topotecan is recommended as an option for second-line (or subsequent) treatment only for those women with platinum-refractory or platinum-resistant advanced ovarian cancer, or those who are allergic to platinum-based compounds, for whom PLDH and single-agent paclitaxel are considered inappropriate.

REGIMENS IN OVARIAN CANCER

REGIMEN DOSE

CP

CISPLATIN PACLITAXEL CARBOPLATIN PACITAXEL CISPLATIN CYCLOPHOSPHAMIDE

75 mg/sq.m 135-175mg/sq.m AUC=5 135-175mg/sq.m 75mg/sq.m 750mg/sq.m

CT

DC

CAP

CYCLOPHOSPHAMIDE DOXORUBICIN CISPLATIN

BLEOMYCIN ETOPOSIDE CISPLATIN

600mg/sq.m 50mg/sq.m 75mg/sq.m

10mg/sq.m x 3 days 20mg/sq.m x 5days 100mg/sq.m

BEP

REGIMEN FOR NON-EPITHELIAL TUMORS

VAC Vincistrene

VBC

BEP

SIDE EFFECTS

While chemotherapy drugs kill cancer cells, they also damage some normal cells, causing side effects. These side effects will depend on the type of drugs given, the amount taken, and how long treatment lasts. Temporary side effects might include the following:

nausea and vomiting loss of appetite hair loss hand and foot rashes kidney or nerve damage mouth sores

 an increased chance of infection (from a shortage of

white blood cells)

bleeding or bruising after minor cuts (from a shortage of

platelets)

tiredness (from low red blood cell counts)

RADIOTHERAPY:
Now, has a very small role since platinum based
protocols and paclitaxel have improved the median survival.

-However it can be used as a palliative treatment for

metastatic bone or brain lesions or of localized recurrence to alleviate the pain.

 Also used in recurrent germ cell tumors especially

dysgerminomas which is very radiosensitive.

Radioactive isotopes of gold-Au198 and phosphorus-P32

have been used intraperitoneally along with external radiotherapy.

However theres no improvement in survival rate.

High incidence of bowel complications have been noted.

Recurrent Ovarian Epithelial Cancer

Detection of Recurrent Disease Second-Look Surgery

Second-Look Surgery
The use of second-look surgery can help diagnose and
manage ovarian cancer.

evidence of enhanced survival after this procedure is

lacking.

It is defined as re-exploration n patients with advanced

stage III and stage IV ovarian cancer after a standard course of chemotherapy have no clinical, biochemical, ro radiologic evidence of disease

The findings of second-look surgery are:

microscopically positive (grossly negative, but

microscopically positive)

macroscopically positive (grossly and pathologically

positive)

Treatment of Recurrent Cancer

Patients who develop recurrent cancer despite surgery

and primary chemotherapy, and will be given salvage chemotherapy, may be placed into one of three groups (A-C):

GROUP A
are patients resistant to primary therapy and have

shown tumor growth during treatment. This persisting tumor is considered to be refractory i.e. have absolute platinum-resistance. Secondary non-cross resistant chemotherapies or biological therapies should be considered.

GROUP B
are patients who respond well to initial chemotherapy,

but develop recurrent cancer within months after the end of primary care. This group with relatively platinum resistant tumor has an intermediate prognosis.

GROUP C
are patients who showed a good response to primary

chemotherapy, and did not develop recurrent cancer for more than 6 months after the end of primary treatment. This group with platinum-sensitive tumor shows the best responses to re-treatment with a platinum-containing regimen.

prognosis
Overall 5-year survival in ovarian epithelial carcinoma is low because
of the preponderance of late-stage disease at diagnosis.
Stage I and II: 80-100% Stage III: 15-20% Stage IV: 5%

Patients under 50 in all stages have considerably better 5-year

survival than older patients (40% compared to 15%) Dysgerminomas treated by surgery and radiation have an excellent cure rate in both early and late-stage disease Endodermal sinus tumour has poor prognosis.

prevention
Diet: a high-fat diet may play a role in the

aetiology of ovarian cancer. Oral contraceptives appear to reduce the risk of ovarian cancer for up to 10 years following cessation of use. This protective effect appears to apply to patients with BRCA mutations as well. Patients who have used fertility drugs should be counselled as to their possible increase in risk of ovarian cancer.

TREATMENT OF BENIGN TUMORS

Diagnostic tests include laboratory blood studies and pelvic
examination. Usually, ultrasound studies with and without blood flow measurements to the involved ovary are used for diagnosis and to help determine the best therapy. Laparoscopy is required in some cases, and rarely, a CT scan or MRI may be recommended. examinations so the tumor's growth can be monitored.

Treatment may not be necessary, except to have regular pelvic

Some tumors require surgery to diagnose accurately, ruling out
malignancy, or to treat. If one ovary must be removed, normal conception and childbirth is possible as long as a normal ovary remains on the other side.

TREATMENT OF BENIGN TUMORS

Germ cell tumors are treated with surgery and multiagent chemotherapy in most cases

Advanced epithelial ovarian cancer is very sensitive to

chemotherapy with responses in the range of 70-80% to first-line chemotherapy. The majority, however, relapse and ultimately die of chemotherapy-resistant disease.

Treatment of Sensitive Cancer

Patients with recurrent chemotherapy-sensitive disease are usually
treated again with primary chemotherapy usually carboplatin/paclitaxel, but toxicity must also be taken into consideration.

If carboplatin or cisplatin was used alone for primary therapy, taxol

should be considered for salvage chemotherapy.

For low-volume disease, intraperitoneal chemo- or radiotherapy can

be considered. These patients are also candidates for trials of high dose chemotherapy with autologous bone marrow support.