Despite the dramatic improvements achieved in
cancer treatment through a better understanding of the
tumor biology,
ovarian cancer is still characterized by a poor prognosis: most patients diagnosed with this disease will ultimately die from it. In various clinical trials conducted over a time span of two decades, new combinations of conventional
chemotherapy regimens have failed to achieve significant improvements in oncologic outcome in
ovarian cancer patients. We have now entered an era of "
personalized medicine" in which new medications are designed to specifically target molecular pathways involved in
carcinogenesis and
cancer progression. Encouraging results in different
tumor types have been reported, applying an increasing number of target
therapies that are still under evaluation. In this setting, one of the most successfully targeted molecular pathways is
tumor angiogenesis.
Bevacizumab, a
monoclonal antibody binding
vascular endothelial growth factor (
VEGF), has been recently incorporated in the treatment of primary and recurrent
ovarian cancer patients after multiple phase III randomized controlled trials have proven its clinical benefit. Based on these positive results, more anti-angiogenic molecules using different mechanisms of action have been developed and are currently under investigation. Among these molecules, the
tyrosine kinases inhibitors are probably the most promising ones.
Cediranib is a
tyrosine kinase inhibitor targeting
VEGF receptors that has been tested in various trials with promising results. The aim of this manuscript is to review the current role of
cediranib in the treatment of
ovarian cancer and to present an overview of the ongoing clinical trials in this setting.