Ovarian Cancer Medicines in India: Imported Options Matched to Platinum Response and Test Results

Ovarian cancer in India: what the numbers show

GLOBOCAN puts the number of Indian women living with an ovarian cancer diagnosis made in the previous five years at 106,187 [1]. Across the world, an estimated 330,731 women were diagnosed in 2024, and 203,850 died of the disease [2]. Indian hospital series add detail that global figures miss:

• SKIMS, Srinagar (Kashmir): the median age was 50, and 76.9% of women with epithelial ovarian cancer already had stage III or IV disease when they reached the hospital. Bloating or a swollen abdomen (46.5%) and stomach or bowel complaints (35.2%) were the commonest first symptoms [5].
• Nine centres across India: among 239 women tested by next-generation sequencing, the median age was 53. A harmful BRCA change was found in 20 of 90 women aged 50 or younger and in 31 of 149 older women, so age alone is a poor guide to who carries one [3].
• Six centres in a national registry (2022–2023): in women whose cancer did not respond to the first platinum course, median progression-free survival was 4.75 months from diagnosis, and only 6.5% received any maintenance treatment [4].

Because symptoms are vague and appear late, a woman with lasting bloating, early fullness after meals or pelvic discomfort should see a gynaecologist rather than wait.

Two questions that decide which medicine fits

After surgery and platinum chemotherapy, oncologists group ovarian cancer by how it behaved on platinum. If it shrank and stayed controlled, the aim is to keep it in check with maintenance tablets. If it grew during platinum or came back within six months of finishing it, doctors call it platinum-resistant [4], and a different set of medicines applies.

In the Indian BRCA study, 40 of 159 serous tumours (25.2%) and 11 of 80 non-serous tumours (13.8%) carried a mutation [3]. An inherited mutation can be passed on in the family, so a genetic counsellor can help relatives decide on their own testing.

Reports your oncologist will want to see first

Each of these medicines is approved for a defined stage of treatment, so the prescription usually rests on the following papers:

Approvals based on a gene change rather than on the organ

A few US approvals cover any solid tumour that carries a particular change, generally when it has spread or cannot be removed safely and other treatment has failed or no satisfactory alternative is left. They are not specific to ovarian cancer but can be relevant when a sequencing report shows one of these findings: mismatch repair deficiency (Jemperli, accelerated approval), an NTRK gene fusion (Vitrakvi, also Rozlytrek and Augtyro), or a BRAF V600E mutation (Tafinlar together with Mekinist, accelerated approval). Your oncologist decides whether such an option makes sense.

Permit, cold-chain delivery and cost support for these medicines

Each pack is imported for one named patient. Our pharmacist drafts the Form 12A application for the patient, who then submits it to CDSCO, and CDSCO issues the import permit on Form 12B; the documents are listed on our page on Form 12A and 12B permits. Elahere is an intravenous infusion given in hospital, so it can travel at 2–8 °C with a temperature logger straight to the hospital pharmacy through our hospital delivery service. Zejula, Senaparib and Lifyorli are capsules taken by mouth.

PARP maintenance can last for years, which makes the total cost a real concern for families. The patient support and access programs page collects manufacturer programs, government schemes and charitable help that may lower it.