Chemotherapy for ovarian cancer
- Chemotherapy treatment is to kill fast-growing cells in the body, including the cancer cells by administration of drugs containing chemicals.
- Chemotherapy drugs can be injected into a vein or administered by mouth.
- Chemotherapeutic drugs are mostly used after surgery to kill cancererous cells.
- The drugs are heated and infused into the abdomen during surgery (hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy).
Hormone therapy
Hormone therapy makes use of drugs to block the effects of the hormone estrogen on ovarian cancer cells. Certain ovarian cancer cells use estrogen to help them grow, so blocking this estrogen might help in controlling the cancer.
Immunotherapy
In Immunotherapy the immune system fights against cancer.
Disease-fighting immune system may not attack cancer cells because they make proteins that assist them to hide from the immune system cells. Immunotherapy works by inhibiting the process.
Targeted therapy
- Targeted therapies attack the cancer cells by doing minute damage to normal cells in the body.
- PARP inhibitors are newer targeted therapies to treat advanced epithelial ovarian cancer.