Ovarian Cancer

Ovarian cancer, the most deadly gynecologic cancer, is chemosensitive in the upfront setting, responding completely to a combination of surgery and chemotherapy 80% of the time. The major histologies of ovarian cancer are derived from the three major components of the developing ovary. This chapter talks about molecular aberrations in ovarian cancer; targets of angiogenesis; and targeting DNA repair with poly-ADP-ribose polymerase inhibition, RAS/RAF, PI3K/AKT and epidermal growth factor receptor pathways. In many types of epithelial cancer, folate receptor (FR) expression is prominent, particularly in ovarian cancer, and considering this differential FR is considered a promising anti-tumor target. Over the last decade, a growing understanding of the molecular aberrations present in the various histology types of ovarian cancer has yielded significant success for its treatment. Future agent development that is focused on common alterations, specifically TP53 and DNA damage repair, will maximize the impact of targeted therapy for this disease.