Therapeutic landscape of ovarian cancer: recent advances and emerging therapies

Ovarian cancer ranks as the seventh most common malignancy and the eighth leading cause of cancer-related death in women worldwide. Most patients are diagnosed at an advanced stage, resulting in poor survival outcomes. The standard treatment is primary debulking surgery (PDS) with platinum-based chemotherapy, however interval debulking surgery (IDS) following neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) is an alternative for select cases. In this review, we summarize recent advancements in the therapeutic landscape of ovarian cancer, focusing on targeted therapies, immunotherapy, and novel drug delivery systems. Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors have markedly improved progression-free survival in BRCA-mutated and homologous recombination deficiency (HRD)-positive patients. Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cell therapy, and tumor vaccines are emerging strategies, but they face challenges due to treatment resistance and tumor microenvironment suppression. Future research should focus on combination therapies, ADCs optimization, and immunotherapy refinement, while also integrating nanotechnology and 3D organoid models to enhance treatment precision to improve survival outcomes and quality of life for ovarian cancer patients.