Therapy for recurrent ovarian cancer.

Primary treatment of advanced ovarian cancer is well established. The combination of tumor debulking and platinum/taxane polychemotherapy has led to improved treatment results in recent years. However, most patients with ovarian cancer will relapse, rendering treatment of recurrent ovarian cancer of great clinical interest. Relapse therapy should depend on the treatment-free interval. Patients with progressive disease during primary treatment or cancer relapse within 6 months after the completion of primary treatment are platinum refractory, and, therefore, prognostically unfavorable. For these patients with poor outcome, quality of life should be predominantly considered before initiation of treatment. Cancer relapse after an interval of more than 6 months after the completion of primary treatment cannot be cured; however, platinum-based chemotherapy, in individual cases combined with secondary tumor debulking, can lead to persisting remissions.