Developing novel therapeutic approaches in chemoresistant ovarian cancer patients

Abstract

Ovarian cancer is the fifth most common cause of cancer death in women and is the leading cause of death from gynaecological malignancy in the Western world. A recent study by the National Cancer Registry, Ireland has shown that between 2004 and 2009, ovarian cancer was the fourth most common cause of cancer death in women in Ireland. It also found that Ireland has the 4th highest incidence of, and the highest mortality rate from, ovarian cancer in Europe. Ovarian cancer is associated with poor long-term survival due to late diagnosis and development of chemoresistance. While approximately 80% of patients respond well to platinum/taxane-based chemotherapy initially, a large proportion suffer recurrent disease and become chemoresistant.