Ovarian Cancer

Second-line chemotherapy for recurrent ovarian cancer is dependent on preferences of both the patient and physician. Retreatment with platinum therapy appears to offer significant opportunity for clinical response and palliation but relatively little hope for long-term cure. Paclitaxel (trade name: Taxol), a prototype of the taxanes, is cytotoxic
to ovarian cancer. Approximately 20% of platinum failures respond to standard doses of paclitaxel. Studies are in progress of dose intensification and intraperitoneal administration (Barber, 227-228). This class of drugs is now thought to represent an active addition to the platinum analogs, either as primary therapy, in combination with
platinum, or as salvage therapy after failure of platinum.
In advanced stages, there is suggestive evidence of partial responsiveness of OCCA to radiation as well as cchemotherapy, adriamycin, cytoxan, and cisPlatinum-containing combinations (Yoonessi, 295). Radiation techniques include intraperitoneal radioactive gold or chromium phosphate and external beam therapy to the abdomen and pelvis. The role of radiation therapy in treatment of ovarian canver has diminished in prominence as
the spread pattern of ovarian cancer and the normal tissue bed involved in the treatment of this neoplasm make effective radiation therapy difficult. …