First-line treatment of epithelial ovarian cancer

The restructuration of Hungarian oncological attendance and medicinal fi nancing resulted in the more intensive participation of clinical oncologists in the therapy of patients with ovarian cancer. The aim of the authors was not to defi ne the taxative therapeutic recommendations, but to give an overview on the development of the therapy and to introduce the deliberation aspects and therapeutic alternatives. While the primary and secondary prevention have developed in case of cervical cancer – with the possibility of eradication – the improvement of surgical techniques and clinical oncological treatments may result in the decrease of mortality in ovarian cancer. It is important to emphasis that only the appropriately aligned application of the two therapeutic modalities can lead to the desired outcome. It has become clear by the end of the ‘90s, that paclitaxel-carboplatin combination is the standard chemotherapy against ovarian cancer. Alternative cytostatic treatments like intraperitoneal treatment and triplets were not breakthroughs. The dose intensive treatment increased the survival rates besides good tolerability, however the results require further confi rmation. Neoadjuvant therapy should be considered in case of patients with advanced and metastatic disease in selected cases. Recently, therapeutic use of angiogenesis inhibition comes with signifi cant improvement. Bevacizumab is the fi rst of targeted therapies, and studies on the effectiveness of similar compounds are under way.