Dr. Scribner on the Role of Chemotherapy in Ovarian Cancer

Dennis R. Scribner, MD, FACOG, FACS, clinical associate professor for the University of Arizona School of Medicine, Arizona Oncology, discusses the use of chemotherapy in patients with ovarian cancer.

There's always going to be a role for chemotherapy, Scribner explains. It becomes more difficult to discern its role when response rates are equal to or less than those associated with PARP inhibitors. Platinum-sensitive response rates can be astronomically high with platinum-based drugs, says Scribner.

As physicians learn more about the molecular makeup of the tumors, they can better choose the right chemotherapy regimens for their patients. Two patients with the same stage and histology can respond very differently to the same regimen. That has to do with molecular aspects of this disease that physicians are just beginning to understand. That’s where molecular profiling and specific markers come into play. It is a much better way of tailoring individual treatment, he concludes.