Read below to hear from Drs Markman and Slomovitz on the sessions and abstracts they’re looking forward to at this year’s SGO Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer.
Ahead of this year’s
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“At this meeting, we are going to see updates on some of the studies that have already led to FDA approval of novel strategies, as well as new therapeutics that are being explored at the phase 1 and 2 levels,” Markman said. “The transformation in antineoplastic therapy in the management of gynecologic malignancies has been incredible, and one must anticipate that this acceleration…will continue. [SGO is] a very important meeting that is going to [cover] the future in this arena.”
“One of the things I’m really excited about [are all the] trials in progress. The future is bright. We’re presenting a lot of trials that are being done in ovarian, uterine, and cervical cancers. This is how we’re going to improve care, until we get cures for all our patients with these diseases,” Slomovitz said.
“We really need to not only focus on the data we’re presenting, but what the next studies will be. Although [trials in progress are] not groundbreaking research, they give us a sense of what our next steps will be, the directions we’re going in, and ways that we will continue to fulfill unmet needs in our space. We need to do future trials to advance the science, and I’m excited about the fact that there’s a nice portfolio of those trials that will be presented,” Slomovitz added.
Session time: April 10, 3:45 PM – 4:45 PM CDT in Exhibit Hall A
SGO [covers] a lot of different things, including surgical management and policy issues, etc. But I’m going to focus on what’s happening in the antineoplastic drug arena. I’ve been involved with systemic therapies in gynecologic cancer research now for over 40 years and it is difficult to overstate the magnitude of the transformation [we’ve seen]. We have new drugs that have been explored, but the transformation as it relates to immunotherapeutic agents and their effects on cervix cancer and endometrial cancer specifically, has been incredible, [as have] molecularly targeted therapies, whether you’re talking about HER2 overexpression or folate receptor alpha overexpression. These targeted therapies that are based upon molecular events have been transformational.
Presentation time: April 10, 3:49 PM – 3:57 PM CDT in Exhibit Hall A
The most important paper of the meeting is the final overall survival [OS] analysis of the phase 3 ROSELLA trial [NCT05257408]. Although the results are still embargoed, we know from a press release that the study was positive,1 and more importantly, we, just this month, received
Encore: Pembrolizumab vs Placebo Plus Weekly Paclitaxel ± Bevacizumab in Platinum-Resistant Recurrent Ovarian Cancer: Final Analysis Results from the Randomized Double-Blind Phase 3 ENGOT-ov65/KEYNOTE-B96 Study
Presentation time: April 10, 3:57 PM – 4:05 PM CDT in Exhibit Hall A
This [presentation] is an encore [in which Bradley Monk, MD, of Florida Cancer Specialists and Research Institute] will review the data from the phase 3 KEYNOTE-B96 trial [NCT05116189]. This is important because it represents
Presentation time: April 10, 4:13 PM – 4:21 PM CDT in Exhibit Hall A
[In] endometrial cancer, we continue to look at non-chemotherapeutic regimens and biomarker-directed therapies. We’ve had some early preliminary data of a class of drugs called CDK4/6 inhibitors with hormonal manipulation with an aromatase inhibitor, letrozole. We’re excited about these results, because if, in fact, it’s a positive trial, it may add another treatment option for those patients with recurrent endometrial cancer, particularly an option that does not include chemotherapy, so we’re excited about that.
Presentation time: April 10, 4:21 PM – 4:29 PM CDT in Exhibit Hall A
Another study in the first session that we’re all excited about will be presented by Amanda Fader, MD, from Johns Hopkins Hospital. She’s going to be presenting her data on the first-line management of low-grade serous ovarian cancers. Again, we’re trying to see if we can eliminate chemotherapy, so the trial [evaluated letrozole alone vs paclitaxel and carboplatin followed by letrozole as initial treatment]. I’m skeptical of [what we may see]. If the study is positive, it may be practice changing.
Presentation time: April 11, 8:01 AM – 8:08 AM CDT in Exhibit Hall A
In the second plenary session, we’re excited to look at the results of the SISTER study [NCT04930159]. This is being presented by Kemi Doll, MD, MSCR, of the University of Washington. SISTER is a randomized trial of peer support vs usual care in a diverse population of Black women. Beyond just treatment options, it’s important to look at our patients, because they need support, and we want to be able to support them the best [way possible]. This study is important [because it will help us] figure out better ways to support our patients.
Session time: April 11, 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM CDT in Ballroom A
I’m also excited about this [session], which I will be distilling, [because we’ll be] talking about the metabolic relationship with gynecologic cancers, particularly endometrial cancers. As we continue to learn more about endometrial cancer, we’re going to realize that insulin resistance, glucose, insulin resistance, diabetes, prediabetes, etc., are really playing a role in the development of this disease [because of] overall inflammation. The [studies evaluating] GLP-1 drugs are [mostly] positive, and as we move forward, we’re going to see that they may, in fact, play a role in the management of endometrial cancer, not just in the treatment, but perhaps in prevention and survivorship. I’m happy that we’re having a separate session on this topic at the SGO meeting, because [although] it’s not ready for prime time, we need to do studies like this [because they may] have more of a crucial role as we move forward. When we look at the GLP-1 drugs, diabetes, hypertension, insulin resistance, heart disease, liver disease, Alzheimer’s, anything [the drug] touches really does improves outcomes. We know that decreasing obesity decreases estrogen levels, but there may be some indirect effects as well.
Presentation time: April 12, 11:14 AM to 11:20 AM CDT in Ballroom A
On Sunday, Lucy Gilbert, MD, MSc, FRCOG, of McGill University Health Centre, is going to be presenting a paper about hormonal treatment in endometrial cancers in those patients who are desiring future fertility and/or have inoperable [disease] due to comorbidities. It’s an early-phase 2 trial looking at giredestrant, which is a SERD [selective estrogen receptor degrader]. There’s a tremendous unmet need of uterine preservation in the management of this disease. I don’t think [approaches] like this are ready for prime time, but doing these earlier studies will help us further develop treatment options.
Presentation time: April 12, 11:28 AM – 11:34 AM CDT in Ballroom A
In addition, we’re excited about some of the long-term follow-up of the phase 3 RUBY trial [NCT03981796]. Matt Powell, MD, of Washington University School of Medicine, is going to be presenting the 4-year survival outcomes in the mismatch repair–deficient population. That trial was game changing for the management of endometrial cancer, so continuing to get long-term data helps tremendously.
Disclosures: Slomovitz is a senior author on the GOG-3039 trial.
