Considerable advances have been made in understanding the biological properties and improvements in treatments in ovarian carcinoma over the past decade. Even for patients with advanced disease at the time of presentation, cytotoxic chemotherapy with or without radiotherapy had had a major impact upon overall survival. However few patients are cured of their disease when they present at an advanced stage and in the years ahead considerable pressure will be brought on the use of alternative modalities of therapy and the detection of ovarian carcinoma at a much earlier stage if these improvements are to be maintained. The use of monoclonal antibodies and other biological response modifiers such as interferons or the use of compounds to overcome drug resistance may lead to further improvements in patient survival.