Study of 'patterns of care' of ovarian cancer patients in a specialized cancer institute in Kolkata, eastern India

Background Ovarian cancer is one of the leading cancers in Indian women. The current standard of care is a combination of surgical staging, maximal surgical effort to achieve cytoreduction, and judicious use of chemotherapy. Multimodality therapy can reduce mortality, but the practice and uptake of such therapy in Indian Institutions are not up to the desired level.
Objectives To study the protocol adherence for ovarian cancer management along with patient compliance and evaluate their effects on survival.
Materials and Methods: The retrospective study obtained and analyzed data from records of patients operated for ovarian cancer at a Regional Cancer Center in eastern India between January 2002 and December 2006.
Results: The records of 202 patients were evaluable. None of the patients who had primary surgery outside the institute had staging information. A substantial number of patients operated at the institute had incomplete surgical staging, inadequate information on residual disease after surgery, and incomplete histology report. Only 20.3% patients could have optimal cytoreduction after surgery. Compliance to chemotherapy was poor. The median overall survival time and disease-free survival time were 24 months and 5 months, respectively. The residual disease after surgery significantly affected the overall survival, but not the disease-free survival. Incomplete chemotherapy was found to adversely affect survival after adjusting for advanced stage and bulky residual disease.
Conclusion: Management of ovarian cancer is suboptimal even in the specialized cancer institute. Poor patient compliance to chemotherapy is one of the major factors adversely affecting survival from advanced ovarian cancer.