Ovarian Cancer

Patricia LoRusso, DO, professor of Medicine (Medical Oncology), associate director, Innovative Medicine, Yale Cancer Center, discusses the role of PARP inhibitors in triple negative breast cancer.

Several variables are important to consider when undergoing preventive surgery for ovarian cancer, including familial history and age.

The FDA has granted a fast track designation to niraparib, allowing the initiation of a rolling submission of data for potential approval for the PARP inhibitor as a treatment for women with recurrent platinum-sensitive ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer.

Maurie Markman, MD, president, Medicine and Science, Cancer Treatment Centers of America, editor-in-chief, OncologyLive, discusses when patients with ovarian cancer should undergo a bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy (BSO).

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy is likely the optimal treatment choice for some women with newly diagnosed advanced ovarian cancer, while other patients should receive primary cytoreductive surgery.

Charlie Gourley, PhD, MBChB, chair and honorary consultant in Medical Oncology at Edinburgh Cancer Research Centre in the United Kingdom, discusses a study comparing the use of olaparib (Lynparza) after chemotherapy with placebo after chemotherapy in patients with platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer.

The FDA has granted a priority review to a new drug application for rucaparib as a treatment for patients with BRCA-positive advanced ovarian cancer who have received at least 2 prior lines of chemotherapy.

Results of a phase I trial demonstrate that the combination of niraparib and bevacizumab (Avastin) can be safely administered to patients with platinum-sensitive relapsed ovarian cancer.

Christina M. Annunziata, MD, PhD, has been instrumental in the genomic profiling of ovarian cancers and in elucidating the molecular pathways that are central to this disease.

Genome sequencing studies have uncovered an array of distinct genomic drivers underlying various ovarian cancer subtypes. If researchers can capitalize on these discoveries, it may offer a path to more individualized and effective treatment options.

Although chemotherapy has changed dramatically since it was introduced, platinum-containing combinations remain standard in ovarian cancer. Often, the established regimen can be modified for patients who quite justifiably may fear the toxicities of platinum agents.

Results of an early phase trial show that, for heavily pretreated patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer, a first-in-class cancer "stemness" inhibitor that targets the STAT3 pathway was found to demonstrate antitumor activity—and was also found to be well tolerated when combined with paclitaxel.

Leslie M. Randall, MD, associate professor of Gynecology/ Oncology, University of California Irvine, discusses evidence supporting the use of BRCA testing for patients with ovarian cancer.

While BRCA status continues to be a predictive indicator of response to rucaparib for patients with ovarian cancer, loss of genomic heterozygosity was shown to also be an effective biomarker for predicting outcomes.

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy is the optimal first-line treatment for some women with newly diagnosed, advanced ovarian cancer.

Robert Coleman, MD a professor in the Department of Gynecologic Oncology and Reproductive Medicine, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses the importance of BRCA testing for patients diagnosed with ovarian cancer.

Charlie Gourley, PhD, MBChB, discusses the potential use of olaparib (Lynparza) as a maintenance therapy for patients with ovarian cancer.

A phase III trial in ovarian cancer was allowed to continue even as the patients who received the experimental study drug were experiencing strikingly inferior outcomes compared with participants on standard therapy. The lack of answers about this trial remains a glaring example of shortcomings in the research paradigm.

Robert Coleman, MD, and Leslie Randall, MD, provide further insight on the importance of BRCA testing.

Avelumab, a fully human anti–PD-L1 IgG1 antibody, showed activity in patients with heavily pretreated recurrent or refractory ovarian cancer with an acceptable toxicity profile.

Allison W. Kurian, MD, MSc, discusses 2 clinical trials utilizing multigene panels to uncover previously undetected risks in patients with breast and ovarian cancer.

Allison W. Kurian, MD, MSc, associate professor of Medicine and of Health Research and Policy, Stanford University School of Medicine, discusses an ongoing trial exploring the association of ovarian cancer risk with mutations detected by multiple-gene germline sequencing in 95,561 women.