New, expanded, and modified use of approved antineoplastic agents in ovarian cancer.

Over the past several years, clinical research efforts in ovarian cancer employing a number of U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved antineoplastic agents have permitted the development of approaches that both improve the effectiveness and decrease the toxicities of systemic therapy of ovarian cancer. These initiatives, including prospective trials and retrospective examinations of large clinical experience, have involved agents previously approved by the FDA for use in ovarian cancer (e.g., cisplatin, paclitaxel, topotecan, and liposomal doxorubicin) and the development of new strategies for drugs approved for other malignant conditions (e.g., gemcitabine, docetaxel, etoposide, irinotecan, vinorelbine, and bevacizumab). It can be anticipated that future studies involving novel approved agents will further expand the oncologist's weapons against ovarian cancer.