Treatment of the relapsed epithelial ovarian cancer

Ovarian cancer remains the most lethal gynaecological cancer and most patients present with advanced FIGO stage disease. Despite optimal upfront surgery and the administration of front-line paclitaxel-carboplatin chemotherapy, approximately two-third of ovarian cancer patients will relapse in the fi rst 3 years. In the last years, the goal in the treatment of ovarian cancer has shifted to maintenance therapy, trying to extend the progression free intervals of the patients. Remarkable advances in the knowledge of molecular biology of relapses led to the introduction the combination of antiangiogenic agent bevacizumab and chemotherapy, which showed to be effective in all phases of the disease, in fi rst-line therapy, as maintenance therapy, and in platinum-sensitive and platinum-resistant recurrence as well. Very recently, a new maintenance therapy, olaparib monotherapy has been introduced into clinical practice to treat platinum-sensitive, relapsed, high-grade serous ovarian cancer. Despite progresses in this therapy, are still some areas of controversy on how to manage epithelial ovarian cancer relapses. The aim of this manuscript is to give an overview on the management of relapsed ovarian cancer in the context of new available therapeutic modalities.