Laparoscopic approach in early-stage ovarian cancer promising

(HealthDay)—Operative outcomes of laparoscopic approach in patients with early-stage ovarian cancer may be comparable with those of laparotomy, according to a meta-analysis published in the July issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

Hyun Jong Park, M.D., from the Yonsei University College of Medicine in Seoul, South Korea, and colleagues conducted a literature review to identify 11 observational studies of laparoscopic staging surgery in patients with ovarian cancer.

The researchers found that, based on the combined data from three retrospective studies, the estimated blood loss in laparoscopy was significantly lower than that for laparotomy. After laparoscopic surgery, the overall upstaging rate was 22.6 percent without significant heterogeneity among all study results. Conversion from laparoscopy to laparotomy occurred in 3.7 percent of cases. For studies with a median follow-up period of ?19 months, the overall rate of recurrence was 9.9 percent.

"Through our quantitative analysis, we concluded that the operative outcomes of a laparoscopic approach in patients with early-stage ovarian cancer could be compatible with those of laparotomy," the authors write. "In the future, further randomized controlled trials may be needed."