Dr. Markman on Precision Medicine in Ovarian Cancer

Maurie Markman, MD, president of Medicine and Science, Cancer Treatment Centers of America, editor-in-chief, OncologyLive, and 2018 Giant of Cancer Care^® for Gynecological Cancers, discusses the impact of precision medicine in patients with ovarian cancer.

Over the years, the initiation of ovarian cancer treatment has remained similar, but the drugs used are more effective and less toxic. Importantly, there is now a plethora of agents available, such as PARP inhibitors, that allow for more precise treatment approaches, Markman says. As a result, ovarian cancer in many patients has transformed from a fatal disease to a chronic illness.

Patients are no longer being treated over a span of months, but over the course of several years. These patients are surviving with illness that certainly requires treatment, but their quality of life is better than ever before. Markman concludes that moving forward, researchers will have to reconsider strategies for drug development, sequencing, and regulatory decision-making to continually improve the management of patients with ovarian cancer.