Dr. Monk Discusses Immunotherapy in Ovarian Cancer

Bradley J. Monk, MD, FACOG, FACS, professor, director of the Division of Gynecologic Oncology at Creighton University School of Medicine at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix, Arizona, discusses immunotherapy for the treatment of patients with ovarian cancer.

There are currently 5 checkpoint inhibitors used in the treatment of patients with ovarian cancer. The single-agent activity of the PD-1/PD-L1 molecules are only 10% to 15%, says Monk, making it difficult to gain accelerated approvals.

This had led to the current work being done with combination immunotherapy. One strategy is to add immunogenic chemotherapy, and another option is to add a PARP inhibitor, Monk says.