Does the diagnosis center influence the prognosis of ovarian cancer patients submitted to neoadjuvant chemotherapy?

Aim: To compare prognosis of advanced epithelial ovarian cancer (AEOC) patients based on where the first surgical assessment was performed. Patients and Methods: Retrospective analysis of primary AEOC patients was performed and three groups were formed based on where the decision of primary treatment was taken: Internal, if the decision was carried out at our Institution (PDS (Primary Debulking Surgery), I-IDS (Internal-Interval Debulking Surgery)) and Referred in case women were referred after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) from other Centers (R-IDS (Referred- Interval Debulking Surgery)). Results: Among 573 AEOC, 279 (48.7%) were PDS and 294 (51.3%) IDS. In particular, 134 of 294 (45.6%) were R-IDS and 160 (54.4%) were I-IDS. Median progression-free survival (PFS) was 26 months in PDS, 14 months in I-IDS and 17 months in R-IDS. The difference was statistically significant (p<0.05) among all groups. Conclusion: IDS can represent a suitable approach only when the first complete debulking is not achievable in a tertiary referral hospital.