An Introduction to the Current Management of Ovarian Cancer in the Era of Precision Oncology

Ovarian cancer (OC) is a leading cause of premature mortality worldwide, mainly because of its advanced stage at diagnosis and poor outcomes in metastatic phase. Quality and timely surgery is the key intervention for both the curative and the palliative setting, providing one of the largest benefits on the survival outcomes. However, patients with OC, at all stages, benefit of a number of pharmacological treatments, both chemotherapy and targeted agents. Therapeutic advances in OC reflect a better knowledge of the biology and the critical pathogenetic mechanisms of tumorigenesis. For instance, the discovery of homologous recombination deficiency, particularly BRCA gene mutations, and the implementation of anti-(Poly ADP-ribose polymerase) PARP treatments have been largely considered to be milestones in cancer treatment. PARP inhibitors are now approved as maintenance therapy in platinum-sensitive OC. Antiangiogenic agents can play an important role in the advanced disease. Immunotherapy has been tested in OC with less impactful results, suggesting the need of more efforts to identify predictive factors to refine the patient selection. Despite the progresses in treatment discovery, the prognosis of patients with more advanced diseases or exhibiting treatment resistance still remains dismal. The personalization of treatment, together with the developing of new drugs, will improve the prognosis of this disease, addressing an unmet area of the cancer treatment.