Ovarian cancer is the fifth most common cause of cancer-related deaths among females and causes more deaths than any other type of female reproductive cancer Siegel et al 2016. Signs and symptoms of this type of cancer are often absent or indefinite in the early stages and many patients have been diagnosed in advanced stages due to a lack of early detection strategies. These patients with advanced stages of ovarian cancer have less than 50 of a five-year survival rate despite the recent developments in chemotherapy Miller et al 2016. A more recent recommended treatment for advanced ovarian cancer is neoadjuvant therapy or the use of chemotherapy or radiation prior to surgery for patients with stage IIIC or IV ovarian cancer to decrease tumor burden and mitigate extensive metastases Morgan et al 2012. In spite of this after initial treatment patients enter into clinical remission and recurrence occurs in 70 of patients some months or years after initial treatment Krasner Duska 2009 Leitao Chi 2009. Moreover, the chance of undetectable and untreated residual disease after chemotherapy and surgery is high Chefetz et al 2013 Craveiro et al 2013. While there are other novel procedures to cure cancer there is still a high recurrence of cancer either leading to a higher stage of cancer or death. In the Philippines ovarian cancer is the 7th most prevalent type of cancer in women with 2.657 new cases and . 610 deaths in 2015 Laudico et al 2015.
