Ovarian cancer is the most common cause of death among gynecological malignancies globally. Ovarian cancer treatment integrates debulking surgery and systemic therapy. Genomic and proteomic analyses have shown that ovarian cancer is heterogeneous with unique molecular characteristics that may facilitate the development of systemic targeted chemotherapeutic and immunotherapeutic precision medicines. However, despite their advantages, these therapies have some limitations. Chemotherapy has drawbacks such as drug resistance and high toxicity due to nonspecific tumor targeting; the targeted versions have limited utility and off-target side effects. Immunotherapy has a low response rate due to the intrinsically immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment in ovarian cancer. Nanotechnology-based drug delivery systems have the potential to overcome such limitations. Various nanoparticles have been developed for controlled drug delivery to ovarian cancer. In this review, we summarize the application of nanotechnology in ovarian cancer systemic therapy including nanoformulations in the market and in clinical trials, as well as the recent nanoparticle research therapeutic strategies. The potential and challenges of nanoparticles in ovarian cancer treatment are also discussed.
Keywords: Immunotherapy; Nanoparticles; Ovarian cancer; Targeted drug delivery.
Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.