Targeting inflammatory pathways in epithelial ovarian cancer

Abstract

Platinum and taxane regimes remain the cornerstone of chemotherapeutic management in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). As most patients relapse after first-line therapy, attempts at improving survival rates in this setting by combining standard treatment with other cytotoxic agents have only had limited success. In platinum-resistant/refractory disease, single agents have modest activity with an average response rate of 20%. As it appears that a therapeutic ceiling has been reached with chemotherapy, there is a need to adopt novel approaches that incorporate the targeting of mechanisms underpinning processes in the EOC microenvironment related to proliferation, survival, metastatic development and platinum resistance. There is growing evidence that inflammatory pathways are integral to such processes and this chapter focuses upon the effects and potential benefits observed with targeting key inflammatory mediators in EOC. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.