New developments in the treatment of ovarian cancer--future perspectives

Abstract

Over the past 40 years, the treatment of ovarian cancer has undoubtedly improved as a result of better multi-modality care and platinum-based chemotherapy. More recently, the introduction of anti-angiogenic therapy, PARP inhibitors and a weekly regimen for paclitaxel indicate that results are likely to improve further. However, major challenges remain and these will be reviewed in this article. We assess key issues in anti-angiogenic treatment including potential ways for addressing resistance; we review the current studies of PARP inhibitor treatment, which shows most promise in patients with germline BRCA mutations; we describe the potential for folate-receptor-directed therapy, given the high level of FR expression in ovarian cancer and we highlight the potential for molecular targeted therapy, focusing on specific subgroups of the disease with targets such as the PI3 K/AKT and RAS/RAF/MEK pathways and the ErbB family of oncogenes. We anticipate that progress will accelerate with a better understanding of the molecular pathogenesis of the various subtypes of ovarian cancer, leading to an increasingly personalized approach to treating women with this disease.

Figure 1.

Schematic diagram illustrating core molecular pathways driving ovarian cancer that represent therapeutic targets.