Chemotherapy for ovarian cancer

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There are two main reasons why chemotherapy is recommended for patients with ovarian cancer:-

The choice of  chemotherapy drugs depends on the characteristics of the individual patient and the personal experiences and logistic of the oncology clinic. Advice and side effects of some of the most common regimens can be obtained by clicking on the heading in the adjacent column.

Advice and side effects of some of the most common regimens can be obtained by clicking on the headings below:

Adjuvant / Radical chemotherapy

The aim of this chemotherapy is to increase the chance of cure. Most often chemotherapy is given to patients after their ovarian cancer has been removed with surgery as an added as an insurance policy to reduce the chance of it returning in  the future.

Which patients benefit?   Those people with tumours with features which suggest a higher risk of relapse:-

1. Tumour found outside the ovary at the time of surgery
2. Tumour looks aggressive down the microscope - poorly differentiated.
4. Cancer cells are seen invading the outer capsule of the ovary

Sometimes it is not possible for surgery to remove all the area of known tumour. In this case chemotherapy is given either first of all or following initial surgery to shrink the tumour. When the tumour is small enough usually after 2-4 cycles debunking surgery is then performed.

How much do patients benefit?  For an individual the benefit is relatively small - there is approximately a 20% greater chance of cure with chemotherapy than without. This means that  that  8 out of 10 people will have little benefit from chemotherapy either because they are cured anyway or the tumour will return despite chemotherapy.

Sometimes it is not possible to remove the tumour completely particularly if it has spread outside the abdomen. Chemotherapy has to be relied on completely to irradiate the tumour - This is possible in a small number of patients (approximately 15%) but in most cases the intention to treat becomes palliative.

Palliative chemotherapy

The aim is not to cure, but to control or shrink the tumour especially if it is causing a specific symptom. The aim of this treatment is to improve the quality of life; therefore the side effects from the chemotherapy should not outweigh the benefits of shrinking the tumour.

In this category, your oncologist would require a full re-assessment of your disease after two or three cycles, to check whether chemotherapy is working effectively. If not, the chemotherapy regime could be stopped or changed.

Further general information Your doctors and specialist nurses are in an ideal position to give you relevant information on your disease and treatment as they know your individual circumstances. Cancerbackup has a help line (0808 800 1234) and a prize winning video available in English, Italian, Urdu, Bengali, Gujarati & Hindi explaining Radiotherapy & Chemotherapy. Cancernet.co.uk has over 500 pages describing cancer, its management, practical tips and tool which patients, their carers and their doctors have found helpful during the cancer journey.