Ovarian cancer

Although surgery followed by paclitaxel/carboplatin (TJ) therapy is a standard modality for the initial treatment of ovarian cancer, 60% or more of the patients require second-line therapy. Recent studies assessed the intensification of primary chemotherapies such as 3-drug combination and/or sequential doublets, and maintenance. Moreover, the clinical studies of NAC followed by interval debulking surgery as a new treatment method are on-going. When patients are classified as having sensitive recurrent or resistant recurrent tumors, repeated chemotherapy, mainly with TJ therapy in combination with platinum therapy, is recommended for sensitive recurrent tumors. Because a response rate of 60% or more and survival for 20 months or more can be expected, therapy that actively aims at prolongation of survival is recommended for sensitive recurrent tumors. On the other hand, some drug that has no cross resistance with TJ therapy should be selected for resistant tumors. However, the response rate is only about 12-32%, and the survival duration is about 8 months. It is difficult to obtain a complete cure for such patients, and every attending physician is therefore required to be familiar with chemotherapy and palliative medicine.