Understanding the Goals of Ovarian Cancer Surgery
- Surgery and chemotherapy are commonly the standard treatment for ovarian cancer
- Ovarian cancer usually starts in ovaries but often isn’t detected until it spreads to surrounding areas
- The goal of surgery is to remove as much cancer as possible
"Our job during an operation is to remove as much of the tumor as possible from within the abdomen," says Dr. Jeanne Schilder, division director of gynecologic oncology at Indiana University Medical Center.
Read MoreOvarian cancer tends to grow on the surfaces of organs and doesn’t typically invade organs such as the liver or kidneys.
In some cases, based on the imaging and other information they have, doctors may decide to shrink the tumors before they operate. In those cases, doctors start with chemotherapy called "neoadjuvant chemotherapy" and then move on to surgery.
The operation, whether it occurs before chemotherapy or after, is quite extensive, requiring a midline incision down the abdomen, from the ribs all the way to the pubic bone. And though it's a big procedure, it gives doctors all the exposure they needed in order to get all of the cancer out.
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