Advances in the understanding and treatment of ovarian cancer

In England and Wales, ovarian cancer is responsible for more deaths than all other gynaecological cancers combined. Unlike cervical cancer, there is no effective population screening programme and the majority of women will present when the disease has spread beyond the ovaries. Current first-line management involves surgical debulking, followed by platinum-based chemotherapy. However, most women will relapse and the five-year survival rate is 20-30%. Novel therapies, based on an increasing understanding of the molecular biology of cancers, are being developed and evaluated in clinical trials.