The promise and perils of 'targeted therapy' of advanced ovarian cancer.

For several reasons, ovarian cancer is an excellent malignancy to consider the use of 'targeted' therapeutic strategies. However, to date, despite considerable effort, there remains limited evidence that such approaches are clinically relevant in the malignancy. The one important exception is the delivery of anti-angiogenic anti-neoplastic agents, which actually appear to be more biologically active as single drugs in ovarian cancer than in other solid tumors where they have been examined. It is anticipated that future trials of 'targeted' therapy in ovarian cancer will focus on molecular targets of documented relevance in the malignancy. Copyright 2008 S. Karger AG, Basel.