ABSTRACT
Background Ovarian cancer is the fifth leading cause of cancer death in the USA. This is due mainly to the advanced stage of disease at diagnosis and the non-curative responses often achieved with standard treatments. The therapeutic management of ovarian cancer today is dependent on early diagnosis, exquisitely exhaustive surgical treatment, and platinum/paclitaxel-based chemotherapy. However, the majority of patients are diagnosed in advanced stages. Although cures can be achieved in the primary treatment of stage III disease, the rate of complete response to the conventional anticancer treatments is very low. Moreover, the main problem is that also those patients who achieve a complete remission show an elevated ratio of recurrent disease. Monoclonal antibody (mAb) therapies have recently had a positive impact and become standard elements in the treatment of both hematologic and certain solid malignancies. Such advances have shown only a marginal value in the treatment of ovarian cancer; however, novel antibodies and different approaches, now in development, could impact on therapeutic standards for ovarian cancer in the coming years.1
