Optimal management of recurrent ovarian cancer. [Int J Gynecol Cancer. 2009] - PubMed result

Note: several years ago Cary Vera Garcia (deceased) published an article about ovarian cancer as a chronic disease. It was an excellent article and she felt using the term chronic as it may apply to ovarian cancer 'Devalued a Survivor's Challenge'. Dr Markman wrote a response concerning the clinical use of the word 'chronic' as it may apply to ovarian cancer. So, 'very serious chronic' is a new term which is interesting.
Sandi
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Int J Gynecol Cancer. 2009 Dec;19 Suppl 2:S40-3.
Optimal management of recurrent ovarian cancer.

Markman M.

Department of Gynecologic Medical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Blvd., Houston, TX 77030, USA. mmarkman@mdanderson.org

The development of an optimal management approach in recurrent ovarian cancer requires careful consideration of a number of important factors including (a) response to and severity/persistence of toxicity associated with prior therapy, (b) existence of relevant trial data (particularly phase 3 studies), (c) patient interest in participating in clinical trials, (d) cost of (and ability to pay for) particular anti-neoplastic drug regimens, and (e) patient choice. It is likely that the increasing availability of biologically active novel agents (and combination programs) in this clinical setting will add to the difficulty of defining optimal therapy in recurrent/resistant ovarian cancer, which, in many individuals, can be reasonably considered a very serious chronic disease process.