# DESKTOP III / ENGOT-ov20

Source: https://onco.cc/trials/desktop-iii/  
OnCo record `desktop-iii` (Trial). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Operating again at first relapse, in carefully selected women, added about seven months of life.

## Summary

DESKTOP III, also ENGOT-ov20, trial NCT01166737 sponsored by the AGO group and published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2021, showed that operating again at first platinum-sensitive relapse of ovarian cancer, in women carefully selected by a positive AGO score, adds about seven months of life. It randomised 407 patients to secondary cytoreductive surgery plus chemotherapy or chemotherapy alone, met its primary overall survival endpoint, and the benefit was concentrated in patients whose tumour was completely resected. OnCo links it to ovarian cancer, minimally invasive surgery and Andreas du Bois; it contradicted the negative surgery arm of GOG-0213, with patient selection the likely explanation, while the Chinese SOC-1 trial showed a progression benefit. Whether the AGO score can be reproduced outside expert centres is the open question.

## Fields

- Kind: Trial
- Status: positive
- Last checked: 2026-09-07
- Registry id: NCT01166737
- Phase: 3
- Setting: First platinum-sensitive relapse with a positive AGO score: secondary cytoreductive surgery + chemotherapy vs chemotherapy alone
- Sponsor: AGO
- Enrolled: 408
- Result: OS 53.7 vs 46.0 months (HR 0.75).
- Outcomes: Overall survival: Surgery + chemotherapy 53.7 months vs Chemotherapy alone 46 months, HR 0.75
- Replication: GOG-0213 found no benefit without selection criteria; SOC-1 (China) showed a PFS benefit.

## Sources

- ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01166737: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT01166737
- NEJM 2021: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2103294

## Connected records

- cancers: [High-grade serous ovarian cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/high-grade-serous-ovarian-cancer/), [Ovarian cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/ovarian/), [Platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/platinum-sensitive-ovarian-cancer/)
- technologies: [Robotic & minimally invasive surgery](https://onco.cc/technologies/robotic-surgery/)
- companies: [AGO Study Group](https://onco.cc/companies/ago-study-group/)
- people: [Andreas du Bois](https://onco.cc/people/andreas-du-bois/)
- key papers: [DESKTOP III: secondary cytoreductive surgery for recurrent platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-desktop-iii-nejm-2021/)

---
JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/desktop-iii.json