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©2013 Baishideng Publishing Group Co., Limited. All rights reserved.
World J Obstet Gynecol. Nov 10, 2013; 2(4): 137-142
Published online Nov 10, 2013. doi: 10.5317/wjog.v2.i4.137
Published online Nov 10, 2013. doi: 10.5317/wjog.v2.i4.137
Natural history of epithelial ovarian cancer and its relation to surgical and medical treatment
Pierandrea De Iaco, Anna Myriam Perrone, Martina Procaccini, Alice Pellegrini, Gynecologic Oncology Unit, Sant’Orsola Malpighi Hospital, 40138 Bologna, Italy
Philippe Morice, Gynecologic Oncology Unit, Gustave Roussy Institute, 94805 Villejuif, France
Author contributions: All authors contributed equally to this manuscript.
Correspondence to: Pierandrea De Iaco, MD, Gynecologic Oncology Unit, Sant’Orsola Malpighi Hospital, Via Massarenti 13, 40138 Bologna, Italy. pierandrea.deiaco@aosp.bo.it
Telephone: +39-335-6666354 Fax: +39-51-6364392
Received: December 13, 2012
Revised: March 12, 2013
Accepted: April 13, 2013
Published online: November 10, 2013
Revised: March 12, 2013
Accepted: April 13, 2013
Published online: November 10, 2013
Core Tip
Core tip: The standard treatment for advanced ovarian cancer consists in complete cytoreductive surgery and intravenous combination chemotherapy with a platinum compound and a taxane. Although response rates to initial therapy are high, many patients will recur and die of peritoneal carcinomatosis. The addition of hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) to the standard therapy aims at increasing survival by reducing peritoneal recurrence. In this review we discuss the time points where HIPEC can be proposed.