Ovarian Cancer - Surgery

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Follow-Up Recommendations

After surgery and chemotherapy, patients should have:

• A physical exam (including pelvic exam) every 2 - 4 months for the first 2 years, followed by every 6 months for 3 years, and then annually.
• A CA-125 blood test at each office visit if the level was initially elevated. Falling CA-125 levels indicate effective treatment while persistently elevated levels indicate resistance to the chemotherapy.
• Your doctor may also order a computed tomography (CT) scan of your chest, abdominal, and pelvic areas and a chest x-ray.
• If your family history suggests a genetic component, genetic counseling may be recommended.

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Investigational Drugs

Any patient with ovarian cancer is a candidate for clinical trials. In addition to testing high-dose or combinations of chemotherapy, biologic drugs that target specific proteins are being investigated. These drugs are primarily being studied for treatment of advanced or recurrent ovarian cancer, in combination with standard chemotherapy drugs. Potential biologic drug treatments for ovarian cancer include:

• Bevacizumab (Avastin) targets vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), a protein involvedin cancer cell growth. It is being studied extensively for treatment of advanced and recurrent ovarian cancer. Unfortunately, some women have developed bowel wall perforation (hole) during treatment.
• Phenoxodiol is being studied for its ability to shrink tumors or stop tumor growth in women with ovarian or fallopian cancer who have failed other forms of chemotherapy.
• Ixabepilone and other epithelone drugs are being studied for ovarian cancer. Epothilones are a new class of anti-cancer drugs that are similar to taxanes (paclitaxel).

Review Date: 11/04/2010
Reviewed By: Harvey Simon, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Physician, Massachusetts General Hospital. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org).