Advancing the frontiers of ovarian cancer therapy: a comprehensive synthesis of emerging cell death paradigms.

Ovarian cancer is one of the most lethal malignancies of the female reproductive system, largely because many patients are diagnosed at an advanced stage and eventually develop recurrent or treatment-resistant disease. Although cytoreductive surgery, platinum-based chemotherapy, PARP inhibitors, anti-angiogenic agents, and immunotherapy have improved management for selected patients, relapse and drug resistance remain major clinical barriers. Regulated cell death pathways, including apoptosis, necroptosis, pyroptosis, ferroptosis, cuproptosis, disulfidptosis, and autophagy-dependent cell death, are increasingly recognized as contributors to ovarian cancer progression, immune regulation, and therapeutic response. This review summarizes current evidence on these pathways in ovarian cancer, with emphasis on key regulators, mechanistic links to treatment resistance, potential biomarkers, and the limitations that currently restrict clinical translation.