Background: The role of surgery in recurrent ovarian cancer (ROC) is debated. Multiple prospective and retrospective series reported improved survival with optimal secondary surgical cytoreduction, but definitive results from randomized trials are needed. Up to the fourth cytoreductive surgery for recurrent disease in an attempt to improve patients' prognosis has been reported.
Case report: We report the first case of multiple ROC in an Italian woman, 50 years old at diagnosis, who underwent 9 cytoreductive surgeries during her 17 years of disease with no serious postoperative complications.
Conclusions: Multiple surgeries should not be considered as the standard treatment for ROC. In carefully selected patients, optimal cytoreductive surgery performed by highly specialized gynecologic oncologists might represent a useful tool in adjunction to chemotherapy for the management of ROC.