Controversies in surgical treatment of advanced ovarian cancer

Approximately 70-80% patients with ovarian cancer are diagnosed at advanced stages. Surgical debulking followed by platinum based chemotherapy is a standard frontline treatment for this disease. There is another approach consisted of neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by a debulking surgery which is on rise. In this article we reviewed the current evidence which highlights the importance of radical surgery aimed to achieve complete or optimal debulking in ovarian cancer patients. We analyzed the results of large randomized clinical trials addressed the issue of efficacy of primary and interval debulking surgery and compared their results to the data about treatment outcomes in leading cancer centers. We drew conclusions about the current role of interval debulking surgery and discussed the ways to improve patient outcomes.