Clinical and molecular features of platinum resistance in ovarian cancer

Ovarian cancer is the most lethal of all the gynecological tumors despite remarkable advances in our understanding of its molecular biology. The cornerstone treatment remains cytoreductive surgery followed by platinum-based chemotherapy. Recently, the addition of targeted therapies, such as PARP inhibitors, as first-line maintenance has led to outstanding improvements, mainly in BRCA mutated and homologous recombination deficient tumors. However, a significant proportion of patients will experience recurrence, primarily due to platinum resistance, which ultimately result in fatality. Among these patients, primary platinum-resistant have a particularly dismal prognosis due to their low response to current available therapies, historical exclusion from clinical trials, and the absence of validated biomarkers. In this review, we discuss the concept of platinum resistance in ovarian cancer, the clinical and molecular characteristics of this resistance, and the current and new treatment options for these patients.