Ovarian Cancer - Medications

Comparative CT Scans. Another method for evaluating the success of chemotherapy is to compare CT scans of the pelvis and abdomen before and after chemotherapy to check the size of any residual tumors that persisted after the original surgery. CT scanning is not always required, however.

text continues below

Positron Emission Tomography (PET). At present, PET scans have no proven role in the management of patients with ovarian cancer. More study is needed in order to determine its utility in diagnosing relapsed disease.

Investigative Procedures for Increasing Effectiveness

Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy. With this approach chemotherapy can be instilled directly into the abdominal cavity at higher than standard doses. There is no evidence as yet to suggest that it is superior to intravenous therapy. More work is needed.

Hyperthermia. Researchers are investigating hyperthermia, a technique that heats the patients whole body (whole-body hyperthermia) or the abdominal area (called intraperitoneal hyperthermic therapy). Increasing the temperature enhances the body's response to platinum-based agents without increasing their toxicity. Studies are now under way.

Experimental Agents

Patients with any stage of ovarian cancer are candidates for clinical trials. In addition to testing high-dose or combinations of chemotherapy, agents with unique actions are being investigated.

Multiple signal transduction regulators (MSTRs). Phenoxodiol is an MSTR that is being developed as a broad-spectrum anti-cancer drug. It is currently being evaluated in Phase II clinical trials in the United States for its availability to shrink tumors or stop tumor growth in women with ovarian or fallopian cancer who have failed other forms of chemotherapy. Pre-clinical study results showed that phenoxodiol restored sensitivity in ovarian cancer cells to both taxane drugs and platinum agents. Combo phenoxodiol with gemcitabine had a comparable response.

LH-RH Agonists. Luteinizing hormone-releasing hormones (LH-RH) agonists (also called GnRH agonists) include leuprolide (Lupron), goserelin (Zoladex), and deslorelin. These agents are able to block the release of two major reproductive hormones, and there is some indication that this action may help prevent cell proliferation.

Immunotherapy. A number of therapies are under investigation that use agents that boost the body's own immune response to specifically attack ovarian cancer cells. To date, they have produced only minor effects. Experimental therapies that are in clinical trials include a vaccinations that use specially designed antibodies (called monoclonal antibodies or MAbs) to boost the immune responses against tumor-associated factors, such as CA125 or HER-2/neu. Vaccines against HERS/neu are also being investigated.