When treating ovarian cancer in the past, doctors almost always did surgery first. But now, Dr. Scott Rushing, a gynecologic oncologist and surgeon with Compass Oncology, says, “In the last probably five years where there’s been a lot of attention towards giving chemotherapy prior to surgery.” Chemo before surgery is technically called “neoadjuvant chemotherapy.”
The benefits of receiving chemotherapy before ovarian cancer surgery include:
- Reducing the amount of ovarian cancer, making it easier to remove surgically
- Reducing difficult cancer-related symptoms such as loss of appetite
- Getting the body in a better condition for surgery
For some women, chemo before surgery is a safer option. This may be true in cases where, for example, a woman has other medical conditions called "comorbidities" that make it difficult to go with surgery first. Or their cancer may have spread to the point where an operation wouldn't make sense without minimizing the disease first with chemotherapy. “Many patients when they come in with advanced disease, they are very weak,” Dr. Rushing says. “And I actually will see the patients improve in their strength while on chemotherapy… hey feel better. They’re in a better position to undergo the surgery and we can be more aggressive surgically because they are not so frail.” That said, for other women, surgery first makes more sense. The treatment plan will vary greatly from patient to patient, so it's important to discuss your unique cancer, condition, and treatment path with your doctor.
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