The Role of Radiation Therapy in Recurrent Ovarian Cancer

Author(s): Yuichiro Hotta, Tamina Kino, Hiroyuki Shigeta

Recent remarkable technological advances in radiation therapy made the way for stereotactic body RT (SBRT), which can be used for oligometastatic tumors anywhere in the body. Oligometastases from gynecological malignancies have been considered as one of the most promising candidate for SBRT. It is suggested that SBRT was associated with high rates of local control, impressive survival, and minimal toxicity in ovarian cancer. It is also suggested that SBRT serves to destroy chemoresistant tumor clones, and help stimulate innate immune response or expose tumor neoantigens, and can be used in women who have had prior radiotherapy.

Among the ovarian cancers, clear cell cancer might be a good candidate for radiation therapy because it is less sensitive to standard platinum-based chemotherapy. A patient was reported who had recurrent ovarian clear cell cancer and had been free from disease more than ten years after the discontinuation of proton beam therapy. Proton beam therapy provides superior dose distributions and a dosimetric advantages over photon beam therapy.

Therefore, radiation therapy is considered to be an effective and safe option for oligometastatic ovarian cancer patients. Proton beam therapy is a good potential option for chemotherapy-resistant, localized, recurrent ovarian cancer including clear cell cancer.

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