Carboplatin plus paclitaxel combination was associated with higher neurotxicity than carboplatin plus docetaxel therapy. Conversely, treatment with carboplatin plus docetaxel was associated with statistically more events of G3-4 neutropenia learn more (94% versus 84%, P<0.001) and neutropenic complications than other treatment, requiring the frequent use of G-CSF support. Based on these data docetaxel with carboplatin has been considered a possible alternative to carboplatin-paclitaxel treatment in patients at very high risk of neurotoxicity, but has not replaced carboplatin-paclitaxel as standard treatment. According to a recent review article [32], gemcitabine
was the most common drug used in clinical trials. Gemcitabine-based combination therapy showed an average response rate of 27.2%, and was
the most common therapy among the group of regimens with above average response rate and progression-free survival. Novel treatment strategies of EOC The larger expectation for improved prognosis in EOC is related to the use of the new biological agents. The deeper knowledge of ovarian cancer biology has led to the identification of multiple molecular targets, such as growth factor receptors, signal transduction pathways, cell cycle regulators, and angiogenic mechanisms. In this section, we overlook the major two molecular targeted agents applied to ovarian cancer treatment; anti-VEGF antibody selleck chemical Bevacizumab and PARP inhibitor Olaparib. Bevacizumab One of the most investigated and NCT-501 molecular weight promising molecular targeted drugs in ovarian cancer is bevacizumab, a monoclonal antibody directed against VEGF. VEGF expression is higher in ovarian cancer tumors than in normal ovarian tissue or benign ovarian tumors, and increasing VEGF expression in either cytosolic fractions derived from ovarian cancer tumors or serum VEGF levels in preoperative serum is considered to be associated with advanced PD184352 (CI-1040) stage and worse survival. In order to inhibit the VEGF pathway, there are two primary strategies: (1) inhibition of the VEGF ligand with antibodies or soluble receptors
and (2) inhibition of the VEGF receptor (VEGFR) with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), or receptor antibodies. Of the VEGF targeting therapies, the most experience has been with a monoclonal antibody that binds the VEGF ligand, known as bevacizumab (Avastin). Bevacizumab is a 149-kDa recombinant humanized monoclonal IgG1 anti-VEGF antibody. It has been FDA-1 approved for the treatment of metastatic colorectal, breast, and non-small cell lung cancer and shows promise in the treatment of ovarian cancer. Several phase II studies have shown that bevacizumab is active in recurrent ovarian cancer [33, 34]. Two phase III trials (GOG218, ICON 7) have recently evaluated the role of bevacizumab in first-line chemotherapy as an adjunct to carboplatin and paclitaxel.