01.05.2012
1. OVERVIEWOvarian cancer is caused by abnormal and uncontrolled growth of cells from the tissues of the female ovaries. Each year approximately 225,484 new cases of ovarian cancer are diagnosed in women worldwide, with an estimated 140,153 dying of the disease each year.1 One of the greatest challenges in the management of ovarian cancer is that the majority of cases are not found at an early stage2when cure would be possible by surgery. Thus far, there exists no screening algorithm to achieve earlier diagnoses, which would make higher cure rates more feasible. Therefore, for the time being, more effective and tolerable treatments to achieve long-term remissions in the advanced-stages of the disease are warranted.
2. WHAT IS OVARIAN CANCER?
Ovarian cancer is an abnormal growth of tissue that develops into
a heterogeneous group of malignancies in a woman's ovaries (female
reproductive glands in which the ovar, or eggs, are formed). The
disease often goes undetected until an advanced stage, as the
malignancies often cause non-specific symptoms that mimic other
conditions such as bladder disorders, which can lead to
misdiagnosis or are attributed to non serious causes and cause
delayed detection.
The ovaries contain three kinds of tissue: epithelial cells
(covering the ovary), germ cells (inside the ovary) and stromal
cells (these produce oestrogen and progesterone). All three can
give rise to malignant ovarian tumours (i.e. epithelial ovarian
cancer, germ cell tumours and sex cord stromal tumours). The most
common type of ovarian cancer with around 90%4 forms in
the epithelial ovary, known as epithelial ovarian
cancer;3 . The epithelium is first trapped within the
stroma to form inclusion cysts, which are then transformed into
tumour cells. This process is thought to be hormonally
driven.5 The two other most common types of
ovarian cancer are germ cell tumours (5%) and stromal tumours
(5%).4