Recent surgical management of ovarian cancer.

Overview

Ovarian cancer is the second most common gynecological malignancy in the USA, and the majority of patients with newly diagnosed ovarian cancer present with advanced-stage disease. The standard treatment of these patients involves primary cytoreduction followed by combination chemotherapy. As the evidence has accumulated regarding the benefit of surgical cytoreduction, and as the definition of optimal cytoreduction has evolved, the surgical techniques have expanded in order to achieve this goal. This article discusses the different facets of the surgical management of ovarian cancer, with a special emphasis on the most recent additions to our current knowledge.