PRIMARY THERAPY OF ADVANCED OVARIAN-CARCI NOMA - CURRENT STATUS AND PERSPECTIVES

Standard therapy of advanced ovarian cancer includes staging laparotom y with aggressive debulking, possibly pelvic and para-aortic lymphaden ectomy, and postoperative chemotherapy. Until present, combination che motherapy with cis-/carboplatin and cyclophosphamide has been standard . Due to the positive results emerging from recent clinical trials, pa clitaxel in combination with platinum might soon emerge as a new stand ard for patients with advanced ovarian cancer. The role of high-dose c hemotherapy is currently under investigation. Pretherapeutic chemosens itivity testing using a third-generation assay, is studied in randomiz ed trials. Since the cost/benefit ratio is increasingly playing an imp ortant role, a cost comparison of the six most commonly used chemother apy protocols is presented.