Clinical management of epithelial ovarian cancer

Ovarian cancer has high morbidity and mortality worldwide, and its mortality is the highest among female genital cancers. Improvement in clinical outcome is an urgent issue for ovarian cancer, and clinical management including treatment has been repeatedly studied. Tumor markers such as CA125, CA19-9, and HE4 and image diagnosis using MRI, CT, PET, etc. are indispensable diagnostic aid tools. In the initial treatment, primary debulking surgery (PDS) is basically effective, but fertility preservation can be considered depending on the case. For advanced cancers, interval debulking surgery (IDS) is considered after several cycles of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). Although the combination of paclitaxel and carboplatin (TC) regimen was originally established as the standard chemotherapy for ovarian cancer regardless of tissue type, new treatments in clinical trials, including molecular-targeted therapeutic agents, are being investigated. The main treatment for recurrent cancer is chemotherapy, and sensitivity to chemotherapy based on the disease-free interval has been considered in the choice of treatment. Furthermore, in recent years, risk-reducing bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy has been undertaken to prevent the onset of hereditary breast and ovarian cancer. It is also being studied how to manage the follow-up after treatment and hormone replacement.