Abstract
Worldwide, ovarian cancer (OC) is one of the leading causes of cancer-related death among women. Despite the recent progress in the treatment of advanced OC, oncologists in many parts of the world still face several difficulties and constraints in the daily management of their patients. In addition to the shortage of resources and expertise, non-adherence to the up to date international guidelines has been identified as a major obstacle towards the improvement of treatment outcomes in the majority of developing countries, including the Middle East and North African (MENA) countries. A multidisciplinary gynecological oncology panel from the MENA region met virtually in December 2020 to discuss the challenges and hurdles faced by the community oncologists in the management of advanced OC. This manuscript reviews the key molecular and clinical studies that shaped the current international guidelines and suggests several modifications to make them more adaptable to the health status of developing countries of this region.
Keywords: Advanced ovarian cancer, debulking surgery, first-line chemotherapy, genetic testing, HRD, middle east and North Africa region, multidisciplinary team, PARP inhibitors.
Graphical Abstract
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