Advanced epithelial ovarian carcinoma has a dismal prognosis. Notwithstanding 
the good initial response to primary therapy, 75% of the patients with advanced 
disease will develop recurrent disease, causing approximately 60-80% of patients 
to die within 5 years of initial diagnosis. The chemotherapy regimens of the 
past century are summarized and the focus is on current systemic therapies and 
future developments in advanced epithelial ovarian cancer. Recently various 
promising treatments emerged. Attempts to optimize chemotherapy have included 
weekly scheduling of paclitaxel and intraperitoneal chemotherapy. Trials using 
angiogenesis inhibition and poly-ADP ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitors show an 
advantage in progression-free survival while further overall survival data are 
awaited. Trabectedin, Hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) and 
chemo-immunotherapy may be become a promising therapy for the treatment of 
ovarian cancer. This Editorial encapsulates these new developments in ovarian 
cancer that are described extensively in the current theme issue Advances in 
Epithelial Ovarian Cancer Therapy.