New Methods Of Treatment Of Ovarian Cancer

New Methods Of Treatment Of Ovarian Cancer.
Women with advanced ovarian cancer who walk off hotheaded chemotherapy directly into their stomach area may live at least one year longer than women who pick up standard intravenous chemotherapy, a new study says. But this survival work may come at the expense of more side effects. "The long-term benefits are fairly significant," said study author Dr Devansu Tewari, director of gynecologic oncology at the Southern California Permanente Medical Group, in Orange County. "There is no learn of ovarian cancer treatments that has shown a greater survival advantage".

Intraperitoneal chemotherapy involves bathing the abdominal field with chemotherapy agents. By contrast, intravenous (IV) chemotherapy is delivered throughout the body via the bloodstream. The US National Cancer Institute currently recommends intraperitoneal remedy for women with ovarian cancer who have had top surgery to erase the tumor.

The 10-year follow-up data from two studies of nearly 900 women with advanced ovarian cancer will be presented Saturday at the annual get-together of the Society of Gynecologic Oncology, in Los Angeles. In 2013, more than 22000 American women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer, and more than 14000 will want from the disease, according to the US National Cancer Institute. There are no initial screening tests for ovarian cancer, which is why it is often diagnosed when the cancer has already landholding independent of the ovaries.

For this reason, survival rates tend to be very low. In the new study, women who received the intraperitoneal care were 17 percent more likely to survive longer than those who got IV chemotherapy. On average, women in the intraperitoneal congregation survived for more than five years, while those who received IV chemotherapy survived for about four years, the deliberate over found. But survival benefits aside, intraperitoneal chemotherapy does take counsel a greater risk of side effects - such as abdominal anguish and numbness in the hands and feet - and not all women can tolerate this high concentration of cancer-killing drugs.

The drugs are also occupied more slowly, providing more exposure to the medicine. The same properties that make the intraperitoneal remedial programme more effective likely play a role in causing more side effects, the researchers said. In general, six cycles of intraperitoneal chemotherapy are recommended, and can be given in inpatient or outpatient settings. The more cycles the women completed, the greater their survival advantage, the research showed.