Abstract

Ovarian cancer is among the most common cause of cancer death and ranks first in the number of deaths each year in the field of gynaecological malignancies. This is due to its late diagnosis and the development of chemoresistance. Platinum derivates, including cisplatinum and carboplatinum in combination with paclitaxel, are the first-line chemotherapeutic agents. Platinum derivates intercalates irreversibly into the DNA and creates inter- and intra-strand DNA cross-links. During cell division, platinum-DNA-adducts block the replication machinery, inducing DNA damage and apoptosis. Nearly all patients respond to first line chemotherapy before it comes later to recurrence of the disease. At time of recurrence, tumours are usually more aggressive, form metastasis in secondary tissues and acquire resistance to conventional chemotherapeutics. Drug resistance is a common problem in tumour therapy not only restricted to ovarian cancer. This is characterized by gene mutations, increased DNA repair, reduced drug efficacy and enhanced drug clearance and detoxification. Up to now the complex molecular mechanism of chemoresistance is not well understood but increasing evidence points towards AKT over-expression and alteration of the PI3K/AKT/mTOR cascade as a central mechanistic reason for this resistance.