An analysis of data from SEER, Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results Program, shows that a common staging procedure given to patients diagnosed with Stage I non-clear cell ovarian cancer will live longer than those not going through the same procedure.
The procedure is called lymphadenectomy, meaning the removal of the lymph nodes during surgery to remove the cancer. Standard therapy is supposed to include lymph node removal but many of the women diagnosed with early stage disease fail to undergo a complete staging procedure.
Information on 6,686 records of women with Stage I invasive ovarian cancer diagnosed between 1988 and 2001 was analyzed. Overall, five year survival was 92.6 percent for those who underwent removal of lymph nodes versus 87 percent for those who did not have the nodes removed during surgery.
1. It is really true, but a bit hard to believe in it. Of course, people ill with cancer would go for this in order to live longer... But I don't understand - I always thought that lymphs protected our immune system...
Posted at 5:41PM on Jan 22nd 2007 by Linda