Ovarian cancer is usually treated with surgery and chemotherapy. Doctors in Germany use the latest treatment methods for the disease, including cytoreductive surgery with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy, targeted therapy, and the most advanced types of radiation therapy. When performing a surgical intervention, doctors use fluorescence diagnostics, which increases the likelihood of a complete tumor removal. Due to highly qualified doctors and modern technology, even stage 4 ovarian cancer treatment in German hospitals provides excellent results.
Surgical treatment
Surgery is the main treatment for ovarian cancer at any stage.
Hysterectomy is a surgical procedure to remove the uterus and its appendages. This is a standard operation for ovarian cancer treatment. Additionally, doctors remove the omentum and lymph nodes. Early stages require staging procedures to make sure a patient has no metastases. Doctors take peritoneal swabs, ascitic fluid, and tissue fragments from suspicious areas. Based on the staging, physicians select a scheme for further treatment and follow-up after surgery.
Cytoreductive surgery can be used for the advanced stages of the disease. Doctors strive to remove as many tumor foci as possible. Ideally, they should be removed completely. Such cytoreduction is called complete. If there are tumor foci up to 1 cm in size, cytoreduction is considered optimal.
When performing surgery, doctors can perform resection of the large or small intestine, part of the bladder, pancreas, spleen, or gallbladder. In Germany, even such major operations are safe for a patient while maintaining a high quality of life after the operation, since the reconstructive stage of the surgical intervention allows surgeons to fully restore the function of the internal organs.
Intraoperative imaging is a new direction in cytoreductive surgery that increases the likelihood of complete cytoreduction. With this technology, doctors will have a better chance of curing cancer. Healthcare professionals inject pafolacyanin into a woman’s body, which binds to a protein found in cancer cells only. After binding this substance, cancer cells will emit fluorescent radiation in the near infrared range, which a doctor can see through a special device. As a result, the specialist will be able to distinguish the tumor tissue from the normal one to remove it completely.
Chemotherapy
For ovarian cancer treatment in Germany, doctors almost always use chemotherapy, except in the very early stages of the disease. This treatment option usually involves the use of two drugs from different pharmacological groups: taxanes and platinum-based drugs. In total, 3 to 6 cycles are required, depending on the stage and histological type of ovarian cancer.
Doctors in the best clinics in Germany use not only systemic, but also local chemotherapy. The drugs are injected into the peritoneum to destroy the foci of cancer that have spread in the abdominal cavity. These drugs are given through a tube that a doctor may leave in the abdomen after tumor removal surgery or may be placed during a minor separate operation.
Doctors in German clinics use hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy. Immediately after completing a cytoreductive operation, surgeons rinse the abdominal cavity with a heated solution of cytostatics for 1.5 hours. Drugs penetrate to a depth of 2-3 mm, but almost do not enter the systemic circulation. As a result, they destroy the remaining cancer cells that doctors were unable to remove.
Other treatments
Doctors in Germany also use other treatment methods for advanced ovarian cancer. These are as follows:
- Targeted therapy with angiogenesis inhibitors, PARP inhibitors, or TRK inhibitors
- Hormone therapy with GnRH agonists, antiestrogen, or aromatase inhibitors
- Radiation therapy is mainly used to suppress distant metastases, for example, in the brain
You are welcome to visit the Booking Health website to undergo your ovarian cancer diagnostics and treatment in Germany. On our website, you can find the cost of treatment, compare it and make your treatment appointment at a clinic at the best price. The Booking Health specialists will help you to choose a clinic and organize your trip.
