Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) plays an important role in ovarian cancer. The appropriate time interval from the completion of NACT to interval debulking surgery (TTS) in ovarian cancer is still unknown. The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the effect of the time interval between the end of NACT and surgery (TTS ≤ 4 weeks vs TTS > 4 weeks) on the survival outcomes among patients with advanced-stage ovarian, tubal, and peritoneal cancers. 152 patients with stage III or IV ovarian, tubal, and peritoneal cancers were included in this retrospective cohort study: 115 in the TTS ≤4 weeks and 37 in the TTS >4 weeks groups. The Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that the progression-free survival in the TTS ≤4 weeks group was longer than that in the TTS >4 weeks group (26 vs 14 months, P=0.04). However, the overall survival was not different between the two groups (66 vs 36 months, P=0.105). The multivariate analysis presented that delay in surgery after NACT (TTS >4 weeks) was associated with a shorter progression-free (P=0.002) but not overall survival (P=0.231). Our findings demonstrated no relationship between the NACT to surgery interval and OS, while a detrimental effect of TTS >4 weeks on PFS was observed.
Keywords: neoadjuvant chemotherapy; ovarian cancer; time to surgery.