[Chemotherapy of advanced ovarian carcinoma. II. Second-line treatment and new therapeutic modalities]

Despite the efficacy of cisplatin-containing regimens the majority of patients with advanced ovarian cancer will die of their disease because of its high recurrence rate. Salvage therapy, generally with cisplatin alone or in combination, is still discouraging. Among the drugs recently tried against this disease, mitoxantrone, ifosfamide and etoposide warrant further investigation because of their ability to induce responses in cisplatin refractory patients. While epirubicin, due to its lesser cardiotoxicity, can replace the parent compound, the exact role of cisplatin analogues is still controversial because their different toxicity does not necessarily imply a better therapeutic index. Intraperitoneal therapy is emerging as a new treatment effective in selected cases. Encouraging preliminary results have been reported with some biological response modifiers, such as interferons, interleukins and monoclonal antibodies. It is likely that in the near future information gained by both basic and clinical research will improve the prognosis of patients with ovarian carcinoma.