Brain metastases in relapsed epithelial ovarian cancer after chemotherapy with pegylated liposomal doxorubicin.

BACKGROUND

Brain metastases in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) occur rarely and are associated with a poor prognosis. No significant risk factors have been identified and no evidence-based treatment guidelines are currently available.

CASE REPORT: A 56-year-old EOC patient presented with seizure at the Emergency Department eleven days after completion of fourth-line chemotherapy with pegylated liposomal doxorubicin (PLD). A computed tomography (CT) scan revealed multiple metastases. The patient received radiotherapy with a total dose of 30.8 Gy and 8 cycles of paclitaxel resulting in stable disease. Based on the current literature, treatment options are discussed.

CONCLUSION

Therapeutic options for brain metastases include radiation, systemic or intrathecal chemotherapy, surgery or a combination regime. Since the effectiveness of systemic chemotherapy remains controversial, current research focuses on developing new anticancer drugs that penetrate the blood-brain barrier in order to prevent and/or treat brain metastases.