Bevacizumab and its Role in Ovarian Cancer Therapy

Cite this article: Nageswara Rao A. Bevacizumab and its Role in Ovarian Cancer Therapy. J J Gynec Obst. 2014, 1(1): 004. Ovarian cancer (OC) ranks seventh in the world [1] and fifth in the United States [2] as the cause of cancer death. About 90% of the ovarian cancers are epithelial ovarian cancers (EOC). Unlike other gynecological cancers, the cause of EOC is unknown [3]. The lack of specific symptoms for EOC leads to a delay in diagnosis and results in women presenting with advanced stages of the disease. The five year survival rate of advanced stage III or IV disease is estimated to be 20% [4]. Currently surgery is the most effective treatment option for early stage I-IIA ovarian cancers with 90% 5 year survival rate [5]. For woman with advanced stage disease, the standard treatment includes surgical debulking followed by adjuvant platinum–taxane based chemotherapy [6, 7]. Nonetheless, the overall survival (OS) is poor [8] and drug resistance emerges within 5 years in patients with advanced stage (OC) [9]. Recurrent ovarian cancer is classified into two groups based on platinum based therapy 1.) platinum resistant if the cancer relapses within 6 months or 2.) platinum sensitive if the cancer relapses after more than 6 months after completing platinum based chemotherapy [10]. Targeted therapy might improve the outcomes of advanced stage ovarian cancer.