Current role of chemotherapy in the management of ovarian cancer.

A discussion of the current role of chemotherapy in the management of ovarian cancer, based on results obtained from studies by Kurume University Hospital and the Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology (JOG) group, is presented. Higher response rates were obtained for epithelial cancer when combinations of cisplatin, adriamycin, and cyclophosphamide were used. However, cancers such as ovarian cancer that form huge tumor masses cannot be cured completely with chemotherapy alone. Therefore, we think that effective combinations of chemotherapy and surgical treatment are the key to improving patients' prognoses.