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Tavares V, Marques IS, Melo IGD, Assis J, Pereira D, Medeiros R. Paradigm Shift: A Comprehensive Review of Ovarian Cancer Management in an Era of Advancements. Int J Mol Sci 2024; 25:1845. [PMID: 38339123 PMCID: PMC10856127 DOI: 10.3390/ijms25031845] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2023] [Revised: 01/30/2024] [Accepted: 02/02/2024] [Indexed: 02/12/2024] Open
Abstract
Ovarian cancer (OC) is the female genital malignancy with the highest lethality. Patients present a poor prognosis mainly due to the late clinical presentation allied with the common acquisition of chemoresistance and a high rate of tumour recurrence. Effective screening, accurate diagnosis, and personalised multidisciplinary treatments are crucial for improving patients' survival and quality of life. This comprehensive narrative review aims to describe the current knowledge on the aetiology, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of OC, highlighting the latest significant advancements and future directions. Traditionally, OC treatment involves the combination of cytoreductive surgery and platinum-based chemotherapy. Although more therapeutical approaches have been developed, the lack of established predictive biomarkers to guide disease management has led to only marginal improvements in progression-free survival (PFS) while patients face an increasing level of toxicity. Fortunately, because of a better overall understanding of ovarian tumourigenesis and advancements in the disease's (epi)genetic and molecular profiling, a paradigm shift has emerged with the identification of new disease biomarkers and the proposal of targeted therapeutic approaches to postpone disease recurrence and decrease side effects, while increasing patients' survival. Despite this progress, several challenges in disease management, including disease heterogeneity and drug resistance, still need to be overcome.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valéria Tavares
- Molecular Oncology and Viral Pathology Group, Research Center of IPO Porto (CI-IPOP), Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Department, Clinical Pathology SV/RISE@CI-IPOP (Health Research Network), Portuguese Oncology Institute of Porto (IPO Porto), Porto Comprehensive Cancer Centre (Porto.CCC), 4200-072 Porto, Portugal
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal
- ICBAS-Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar, University of Porto, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal
| | - Inês Soares Marques
- Molecular Oncology and Viral Pathology Group, Research Center of IPO Porto (CI-IPOP), Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Department, Clinical Pathology SV/RISE@CI-IPOP (Health Research Network), Portuguese Oncology Institute of Porto (IPO Porto), Porto Comprehensive Cancer Centre (Porto.CCC), 4200-072 Porto, Portugal
- Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal
| | - Inês Guerra de Melo
- Molecular Oncology and Viral Pathology Group, Research Center of IPO Porto (CI-IPOP), Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Department, Clinical Pathology SV/RISE@CI-IPOP (Health Research Network), Portuguese Oncology Institute of Porto (IPO Porto), Porto Comprehensive Cancer Centre (Porto.CCC), 4200-072 Porto, Portugal
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal
| | - Joana Assis
- Clinical Research Unit, Research Center of IPO Porto (CI-IPOP), RISE@CI-IPOP (Health Research Network), Portuguese Oncology Institute of Porto (IPO Porto), Porto Comprehensive Cancer Center (Porto.CCC), 4200-072 Porto, Portugal
| | - Deolinda Pereira
- Oncology Department, Portuguese Institute of Oncology of Porto (IPOP), 4200-072 Porto, Portugal
| | - Rui Medeiros
- Molecular Oncology and Viral Pathology Group, Research Center of IPO Porto (CI-IPOP), Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Department, Clinical Pathology SV/RISE@CI-IPOP (Health Research Network), Portuguese Oncology Institute of Porto (IPO Porto), Porto Comprehensive Cancer Centre (Porto.CCC), 4200-072 Porto, Portugal
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal
- ICBAS-Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar, University of Porto, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Fernando Pessoa University, 4200-150 Porto, Portugal
- Research Department, Portuguese League Against Cancer (NRNorte), 4200-172 Porto, Portugal
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