Author(s)

Nicoletta Staropoli, Cirino Botta, Domenico Ciliberto, Lucia Fiorillo, Antonina Maria De Angelis, Caterina Viscomi, Simona Gualtieri, Angela Salvino, Pierfrancesco Tassone, Pierosandro Tagliaferri

Medical Oncology Unit, Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, Magna Gr?cia University and Tommaso Campanella Cancer Center, Campus Salvatore Venuta, Catanzaro, Italy.

Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is the sixth most common malignancy in women. Ovarian tumors consist of several clinical and pathological entities that share an anatomic site. The gold standard treatment, both in front-line and in adjuvant setting, is represented by carboplatin/paclitaxel combination. Conversely, the second-line treatment is not well defined. The response to platinum is the major prognostic factor for survival. In this review we discuss the current views on platinum-refractory/resistant patient treatment only, which includes patients progressing or relapsing within 6 months from the last platinum-based course. Concerning this subgroup, the activity of several conventional drugs was confirmed in different trials without a significant impact in terms of overall survival. In the last years particular emphasis was given to targeted anti-angiogenetic therapy which produced a survival improvement with an acceptable toxicity profile. New “ad hoc” approaches, with a major attention to outcome-predictive factors, are eagerly awaited.

Ovarian Cancer; Systemic Chemotherapy; Platinum Sensitivity Status

N. Staropoli, C. Botta, D. Ciliberto, L. Fiorillo, A. Angelis, C. Viscomi, S. Gualtieri, A. Salvino, P. Tassone and P. Tagliaferri, "Target Therapy in Platinum-Refractory/Resistant Ovarian Cancer: From Preclinical Findings to Current Clinical Practice," Journal of Cancer Therapy, Vol. 4 No. 5, 2013, pp. 1005-1017. doi: 10.4236/jct.2013.45115.