Ovarian Cancer Canada’s Approach to Treating the Disease

The standard treatment for ovarian cancer consists of
surgical removal or “reduction”

surgical removal or “reduction”
Also called “tumor reduction surgery”

tumour: the surgeon tries to remove as much of the tumor as possible. There should ideally be no

residual cancer

residual cancer
Residual cancer refers to cancer cells that remain after surgery.

visible. It has indeed been demonstrated that a maximum reduction of the tumor improves the prognosis.

In the majority of ovarian cancer surgeries, the surgical team removes the uterus, both fallopian tubes, and both ovaries. The clinical name for this type of intervention is

hysterectomy

hysterectomy
Removal of the uterus

total with

salpingo-ovariectomie

salpingo-ovariectomie
Removal of fallopian tubes and ovaries

bilateral

bilateral
On both sides

».

In some cases, the surgical team may insert a flexible tube, called an “orifice,” into the abdominal wall so that chemotherapy drugs can be administered directly into the abdominal cavity. This is called the ” intraperitoneal chemotherapy ».