Ovarian Cancer

The New York State Stem Cell Science Program recently awarded a 4-year $11.9 million grant to Roswell Park Cancer Institute to fund research and development of a stem-cell based treatment for ovarian cancer.

Approximately 22,000 women will be diagnosed with epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) in the United States in 2014, making it the nation's second most common gynecologic malignancy.1 The cancer, which often presents at an advanced stage, causes more deaths than any other type of gynecologic malignancy.

For more than two decades, Kenneth Offit, MD, MPH, has been researching the molecular genetic factors that increase cancer risk, notably concerning germline BRCA mutations in breast and ovarian cancer, with a focus on potential preventive surgical remedies and screening programs for women at hereditary risk.

Virginia Kaklamani, MD, a professor of medicine in the Division of Hematology/Oncology at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center at San Antonio, discusses a recent clinical trial that looks at the combination of two chemotherapy drugs, carboplatin and eribulin, along with the PARP inhibitor E7449 for the treatment of breast and ovarian cancer.

The FDA has approved the PARP inhibitor olaparib (Lynparza) for the treatment of women with BRCA-positive advanced ovarian cancer.

As one of the most significant predictors of hereditary breast and ovarian cancer, the BRCA1/2 genes have become the poster child for genetic testing, thrust into the limelight by a high-profile court battle and a celebrity's disclosure.

PARP inhibitors represent an exciting new class of anticancer agents and are currently being evaluating in phase III for a number of different indications.