Weight change therapy as a potential treatment for end-stage ovarian carcinoma

Patient: Female, 41 Final Diagnosis: Ovarian carcinoma Symptoms: Ascites • hepatomegaly • weight loss Medication: — Clinical Procedure: — Specialty: Oncology OBJECTIVE: Unusual or unexpected effect of treatment BACKGROUND: The aim of this case report is to present the results of treatment of end-stage ovarian carcinoma in a 41-year-old women using weight loss therapy. CASE REPORT: We describe the case of a female aged 41 years with epithelial invasive ovarian cancer of III–IV stage, T(3)N(2)M(1). Concurrent diseases were: abdominal carcinomatosis; hepatomegaly; ascites; condition after laparocentesis and skin-abdominal fistula; condition after 6 courses of neo-adjuvant polychemotherapy; hypertension II stage, risk factor of 3–4; dyslipidemia; and metabolic syndrome. A weight loss method based on a very-low-calorie diet and physical activity was used. Body weight was reduced from 74 kg to 53 due to loss of adipose tissue after 6 months of therapy. At the same time, the percentages of water and muscle tissue were increased significantly. While overweight was reducing, clinical, laboratory, and instrumental results were improving. As a result of the weight loss therapy, about ≈100 mm-sized ovarian cancer was transformed into smaller-sized ovarian cysts. CONCLUSIONS: An analgesic effect was also achieved without use of narcotic or non-narcotic analgesics. These cyto-reversible processes were documented by laboratory and instrumental data. The mechanisms behind these differences remain to be elucidated. Future research with a larger study cohort and longer follow-up is needed to further investigate the role of caloric restriction diet in cancer cell changes in ovarian cancer.