MIRRORS-RCT Pilot: Role of Robotic Interval Cytoreductive Surgery for Advanced Ovarian Cancer

In the researchers' words

The survival of ovarian cancer patients is dependent on the stage at diagnosis; more than 70% of patients present with advanced stage disease (stage III/IV). In England, one-year survival is 98.7% at stage I and 51.4% at stage IV and five-year survival is 93.3% and 13.4% respectively. Standard treatment for advanced ovarian cancer involves surgery to remove all visible tumour and chemotherapy. Removal of all visible disease, so no tumour deposits are visible to the naked eye at the end of first-line surgery, is one of the strongest predictors of overall survival. A majority of the women presenting with advanced disease are older and frail. Extensive open surgery discriminates against such women as they may not be well enough for the surgery offered. A recent national audit in England found that 60.1% of women over the age of 79yrs diagnosed with ovarian cancer received no cancer treatment at all. The ability to provide the same surgery via a minimally invasive route such as robotic surgery potentially widens access to cancer treatment. The MIRRORS Feasibility study (NCT04402333) completed recently at the Royal Surrey County Hospital in Guildford showed significantly enhanced recovery with short length of stay and reduced blood loss enabling faster recommencement of chemotherapy in women with advanced disease undergoing robotic surgery compared to open surgery (requiring a…