Ovarian cancer: patterns of care in Victoria during 1993-1995.

Objective: To describe the management of and outcomes in patients with newly diagnosed ovarian cancer during 1993, 1994 and 1995 in Victoria.

Design And Setting: Retrospective cohort study conducted by surveying doctors involved in managing incident ovarian cancer cases identified from the population-based Victorian Cancer Registry. The survey was conducted in 1997 and the cohort was followed up until the end of 1999 to obtain at least four years of follow-up data on all patients.

Repetitive high-dose topotecan, carboplatin, and paclitaxel with peripheral blood progenitor cell support in previously untreated ovarian cancer: results of a Phase I study.

Objective: In view of the significant activity of topotecan in ovarian cancer with dose-limiting toxicity (DLT) of myelosuppression, we evaluated the addition of topotecan to carboplatin and paclitaxel with peripheral blood progenitor cell (PBPC) support.

Methods: Patients with previously untreated stage IIIC or IV ovarian cancer with macroscopic residual disease following primary debulking surgery were eligible. Patients received two cycles of carboplatin AUC = 5 and 175 mg/m(2) of paclitaxel with collection of PBPCs after the second cycle.

Referral patterns for gynaecological radiotherapy in Victoria.

A retrospective chart review was undertaken on all patients in Victoria who were referred for radiotherapy for a gynaecological cancer from February 1997 to January, 1998. Three hundred and ten patients were identified which represents less than one-third of all gynaecological cancers diagnosed in Victoria each year. Ninety-two of the 310 patients (30%) referred for radiotherapy were managed without the prior involvement of a certified gynaecological oncologist.

The use of large loop excision of the transformation zone in management problems of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia.

We studied 2 groups of women whose management is controversial: those with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) grade 2 or 3 on smear, but only CIN grade 1 or no abnormality on target biopsy (Group 1), and those with persistent CIN grade 1 on smear and up to CIN 1 on biopsy (Group 2). We set out to assess whether large loop excision of the transformation zone (LLETZ) was an acceptable method of treating these 2 groups of women. A review of 100 consecutive patients was undertaken.

Panniculectomy: a useful technique for the obese patient undergoing gynecological surgery.

Objectives: To establish the safety and efficacy of panniculectomy at the time of surgery for benign and malignant gynecological disease.

Methods: Retrospective review of the course of 57 patients undergoing radical gynecological surgery and panniculectomy between January 1992 and January 1997 at the Mercy Hospital for Women, Melbourne. Data were collected regarding indication for treatment, operative details, and complications of surgery.