SynthesisJournal of gynecologic oncology2023
Optimal number of neoadjuvant chemotherapy cycles prior to interval debulking surgery in advanced epithelial ovarian cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis of progression-free survival and overall survival.
Synthesis in Journal of gynecologic oncology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 13 citations in OpenAlex.
- Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy for Newly Diagnosed, Advanced Ovarian Cancer: ASCO Guideline Update.Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology · 2025Guideline
- Chemotherapy Response Score and Survival Outcomes After Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in High-Grade Serous Tubo-Ovarian Carcinoma: A Multicenter Retrospective Study.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2026Article
- Association between pathologic chemotherapy response score and pattern of recurrence in advanced high-grade serous ovarian cancer.The oncologist · 2026Article
- Multimodal data-based graph convolutional networks for predicting outcomes in ovarian cancer receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy.NPJ precision oncology · 2026Article
- The Impact of the Number of Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy Cycles on Outcomes in Advanced Ovarian Cancer: A Narrative Review.Cancers · 2026Review
- Effect of Diaphragmatic Resection Versus Stripping in Advanced Ovarian Cancer: Impact on Patient Complications in a Large Retrospective Cohort Study at a Tertiary Referral Center.Annals of surgical oncology · 2026Article
- Treatment of ovarian cancer: From the past to the new era (Review).Oncology letters · 2025Review
- Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
14 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveNeoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) represents a treatment option in patients with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer (AEOC) who are not good candidates for primary debulking surgery. Usually, 3 cycles of chemotherapy before surgery have been considered the best option for patient survival, although quite often some patients receive more than 3 cycles. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to identify the optimal number of NACT cycles reporting better survival in AEOC patients.
methodsPubMed, Cochrane Library, and Scopus were searched for original articles that analyzed the relationship between the number of chemotherapy cycles and clinical outcomes in AEOC patients before interval debulking surgery (IDS). The main outcomes were progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS).
resultsA total of 22 studies comprising 7,005 patients diagnosed with AEOC were included in our analysis. In terms of survival, the reviewed studies dividing the patients in ≤3 NACT cycles vs. >3, showed a trend for a decrease in PFS and a significant reduction in OS with an increasing number of cycles, while a difference in both PFS and OS was revealed if early IDS included patients with 4 NACT cycles. These results should be interpreted with caution due to the complex characteristics of AEOC patients.
conclusionIn conclusion, our review and meta-analysis revealed that there is not enough evidence to determine the optimal number of NACT treatments before surgery. Further research in the form of well-designed randomized controlled trials is necessary to address this issue.
trial registrationPROSPERO Identifier: CRD42022334959.
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