Biomarkers of platinum resistance in ovarian cancer: what can we use to improve treatment

Abstract

Ovarian cancer has poor survival rates due to a combination of diagnosis at advanced disease stages and disease recurrence as a result of platinum chemotherapy resistance. High-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC), the most common ovarian cancer subtype, is conventionally treated with surgery and paclitaxel/carboplatin combination chemotherapy. Initial response rates are 60-80%, but eventually the majority of patients become platinum-resistant with subsequent relapses. Extensive research on individual biomarkers of platinum resistance has revealed many potential targets for the development new treatments. While this is ongoing, there are also epigenetic, DNA repair, genome and immune changes characterised in platinum-resistant HGSOC that can be targeted with current therapies. This review discusses biomarkers of platinum chemotherapy resistance in ovarian cancer with a focus on biomarkers that are targetable with alternative treatment combinations to those currently used. After decades of research focused on elucidating the biological cause of platinum resistance, future research needs to focus on using this knowledge to overcome resistance for patients with ovarian cancer.

Keywords: biomarkers; carboplatin; cisplatin; ovarian cancer; platinum chemotherapy; resistance.