Finding out that you or someone close to you has ovarian cancer can be a big shock. This cancer is serious, but it can be treated and sometimes cured.

Here we cover treatments for ovarian cancer that has spread outside your ovary (stages 2, 3, or 4). Doctors call this advanced ovarian cancer. To learn about treatments for ovarian cancer that hasn't spread (stage 1), see Treatments for early (stage 1) ovarian cancer.

Key points about treating ovarian cancer

• The only way your doctor can tell for certain whether you have ovarian cancer is by doing an operation to look at your ovaries. If you have cancer, your surgeon will try to remove it all during this operation. For more information, see Surgery for ovarian cancer.

• After surgery, you'll probably have chemotherapy to kill any cancer cells that are left.

• Having chemotherapy that includes a platinum drug (cisplatin or carboplatin) seems to work best. Carboplatin causes fewer side effects.

• Some people take a taxane drug (paclitaxel or docetaxel) as well as a platinum drug. But we don't know if taking a taxane drug as well can help you live longer.

• Having more surgery during or after chemotherapy (called routine interval debulking and second-look surgery) probably won't help you live longer.

• Doctors are researching new treatments for ovarian cancer, such as vaccines and treatment with hormones. You may be able to take part in research studies testing one of these. Talk to your doctor to find out more.

• Two newer chemotherapy drugs are called topotecan and pegylated liposomal doxorubicin hydrochloride (PLDH). They are recommended for use when standard treatments don't work, or can't be used.

Which treatments work best? We've looked at the best research and given a rating for each treatment according to how well it works.

For help in deciding which treatment is best for you, see How to use research to support your treatment decisions.

Treatments for advanced ovarian cancer

• Surgery for ovarian cancer: If your doctor thinks you might have ovarian cancer, the only way to be sure is to do an operation and look at your ovaries. If your surgeon finds cancer he or she will remove as much of it as possible. More...

• Chemotherapy that includes one platinum drug: These drugs kill cancer cells. Types of platinum drugs include cisplatin and carboplatin (brand name Paraplatin). More...

• Chemotherapy that includes one taxane drug and one platinum drug: Like platinum drugs, taxane drugs also kill cancer cells. Some examples (and their brand names) are paclitaxel (Taxol) and docetaxel (Taxotere). More...

• A second round of chemotherapy: This is done after you've had your first operation and first round of chemotherapy in the hope that it will help you live longer. More...

• Second-look surgery: This operation lets your doctor see what's happened to your ovarian cancer. It's done after you've had your first operation and all of your chemotherapy. More...

• A second operation to remove more cancer (routine interval debulking): This operation removes more cancer in the hope that it will make your chemotherapy work better. It's done after you've had your first operation and half of your chemotherapy. More...

Glossary

ovaries

Women have two ovaries, one on each side of their womb. They are small glands that store eggs. Inside the ovaries are hundreds of thousands of pre-eggs, called follicles. Some of these grow into eggs.

For more terms related to Ovarian cancer

Citations