Dr. Konecny on the Survival Benefit Achieved With Maintenance PARP Inhibitors in Ovarian Cancer

Gottfried E. Konecny, MD, an associate professor of medicine and lead clinician for Gynecologic Oncology in the Department of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, discusses the impact of maintenance PARP inhibitors on survival in patients with ovarian cancer.

Previous data have indicated that the emergence of PARP inhibitors in the treatment of patients with early-stage, primary and recurrent ovarian cancer has resulted in a significant improvement in progression-free survival, according to Konecny. Recent data from the 2020 ESMO Virtual Congress have also shown that these agents are also providing overall survival benefit, especially in patients whose tumors harbor BRCA1/2 mutations.

Despite these improvements, many patients develop resistance to these inhibitors over time; this underscores the need to focus efforts on overcoming mechanisms of drug resistance, concludes Konecny.