Recent advances in the management of women with ovarian cancer

Ovarian cancer continues to be the leading cause of death secondary to gynecologic cancers among women in the western world. Current treatment of ovarian cancer entails a combination of surgery and chemotherapy. Currently, 1st-line chemotherapy consists of a combination of carboplatin and paclitaxel to which approximately 80% of women respond. Women who do not respond to chemotherapy or have a recurrence within 6 months of treatment have dismal prognoses. Women who respond to chemotherapy usually stay in remission for 1-3 years and then have tumor recurrence. Women with recurrent ovarian cancer can be treated with secondary cytoreduction followed by chemotherapy or by chemotherapy alone. Women with recurrent ovarian cancer usually succumb to their disease despite occasional good response to chemotherapy. Despite the fact that new chemotherapeutic drugs have been found effective among women with ovarian cancer, the prognosis of women with the disease continues to be poor. Advances in survival will depend on development of more accurate screening techniques and the development of new paradigms in treatment.