Targeted therapy of ovarian cancer including immune check point inhibitor

• Published in: The Korean journal of internal medicine Vol. 32; no. 5; pp. 798 - 804
• Main Authors: Kim, Jin Young, Cho, Chi Heum, Song, Hong Suk
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Korea (South) The Korean Association of Internal Medicine 01-09-2017; 대한내과학회
• Subjects: Angiogenesis Inhibitors - therapeutic use; Animals; Antineoplastic Agents, Immunological - adverse effects; Antineoplastic Agents, Immunological - therapeutic use; Female; Humans; Immunotherapy - adverse effects; Immunotherapy - methods; Molecular Targeted Therapy - adverse effects; Molecular Targeted Therapy - methods; Neovascularization, Pathologic; Ovarian Neoplasms - drug therapy; Ovarian Neoplasms - immunology; Ovarian Neoplasms - metabolism; Ovarian Neoplasms - pathology; Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerase Inhibitors - therapeutic use; Protein Kinase Inhibitors - therapeutic use; Review; Signal Transduction - drug effects; Treatment Outcome; 내과학; Molecular targeted therapy; Ovarian neoplasms; Immunotherapy
• ISSN: 1226-3303; 2005-6648
• DOI: 10.3904/kjim.2017.008

Epithelial ovarian cancer is the eighth most common cause of cancer-related deaths in women because most patients present with advanced stage disease at the time of diagnosis. Although cytoreductive surgery and platinum-based chemotherapy remain the gold standards of treatment, the recurrence rate of ovarian cancer remains high. Attempts to improve this standard two-drug chemotherapy by adding a third cytotoxic drug have failed to affect either progression-free survival or overall survival and have resulted in an increase in toxic side effects. Some anti-angiogenic agents, poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase, and immune checkpoint inhibitors have shown efficacy in early stages of development for the treatment of epithelial ovarian cancer. As demonstrated in recent clinical trials, the use of bevacizumab, cediranib, pazopanib, olaparib, and rucaparib, either alone or in combination with conventional cytotoxic agents, improves progression-free survival. Trials on immune checkpoint inhibitors such as nivolumab have revealed prolonged responses in a small set of ovarian cancer cases but require further exploration. In this review, we discuss the role of targeted therapies against ovarian cancer, including the use of immune checkpoint inhibitors.