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Ovarian cancer. Use of multiple modality programs involving surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy
Author(s) -
Lewis George C.,
Blessing John
Publication year - 1977
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/1097-0142(197707)40:1+<588::aid-cncr2820400725>3.0.co;2-8
Subject(s) - medicine , radiation therapy , chemotherapy , melphalan , oncology , modalities , cancer , ovarian cancer , drug , adjuvant therapy , randomized controlled trial , treatment modality , pharmacology , social science , sociology
Appreciating the past reports of effectiveness for various therapeutic modalities in ovarian cancer, the Gynecologic Oncology Group activated eight protocols. Three involved epithelial lesions with randomized multimodality trials alone or in combination. The other protocols were devoted to registration of rare tumor case reports. Conclusions are still difficult to reach due to inconsistencies in pathologic diagnoses and deficiencies in radiation therapy, chemotherapy and surgery inherent in the initial phases of group development by diverse specialists in oncology. Adjuvant therapy for early cancer seems to have no advantage. Single drug, melphalan therapy may be as effective as multi‐drug, irradiation or combined drug‐irradiation therapy and less toxic. For the rare tumors, preliminary results suggest therapeutic advantage for at least one triple drug program in malignant teratoma. With the lessons of the past, it is anticipated that new studies briefly described herewith may be more effectively applied. Cancer 40:588–594, 1977.