Ovarian Cancer

Despite missing the primary end point of progression-free survival improvement, cediranib and olaparib demonstrated comparable activity with platinum-based chemotherapy in patients with recurrent platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer.

In an interview with Targeted Oncology, Ursula A. Matulonis, MD, discussed the findings from a TWiST analysis of the ENGOT-OV16/NOVA study, which evaluated the time without symptoms or toxicities in patients with recurrent ovarian cancer who received niraparib as maintenance.

In an interview with Targeted Oncology, Robert L. Coleman, MD, FACOG, FACS, discussed the importance of molecular testing in ovarian cancer and how the treatment landscape will continue to evolve in tailoring treatment to patients based on the biology of their tumors, which was the topic of his lecture at the 2020 Society for Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) Annual Meeting.

“In the final SOLO2 analysis, maintenance olaparib provided a clinically meaningful improvement of 12.9 months [in] median overall survival. These results demonstrate that olaparib maintenance monotherapy not only delays disease progression but also improves overall survival in women with platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer and a BRCA mutation.”

The FDA granted approval to the combination of olaparib and bevacizumab for the maintenance treatment of patients with advanced ovarian cancer who are in complete or partial response to first-line platinum-based chemotherapy with bevacizumab and whose cancer is associated with homologous recombination deficiency–positive status defined by either a deleterious or suspected deleterious BRCA mutation, and/or genomic instability.

Relapse-free survival was prolonged in patients with stage III/IV ovarian cancer who received frontline maintenance treatment with Vigil immunotherapy compared with placebo. This was especially true for patients with BRCA1/2 wild-type disease, according to results from the phase II VITAL study.

Frontline niraparib in addition to bevacizumab as maintenance demonstrated impressive clinical activity in patients with advanced ovarian cancer who achieved either a complete or partial response to frontline platinum-based chemotherapy with bevacizumab, according to the phase II OVARIO trial.

Following its success in the phase III PRIMA study, frontline niraparib maintenance demonstrated positive patient-reported outcomes, as well as met biomarker-defined and other secondary endpoints, according to 3 analyses to be reported as part of the Society of Gynecologic Oncology 2020 Annual Meeting.

The FDA has accepted and granted a priority review to a supplemental Biologics License Application for pembrolizumab for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients with unresectable or metastatic solid tumors with tissue tumor mutational burden-high who have progressed following prior treatment and who have no satisfactory alternative treatment options.

An association was found between a lower risk of grade 3 or higher chemotherapy toxicity with higher body mass indexes and normal albumin, a protein made in the liver, levels in older adult patients with solid tumors, according to an analysis of a prospective, multicenter study.

A sudden surge in the cases of COVID-19 due to pandemic, along with efforts to contain it, has led to multiple challenges that no country has experienced in the last several decades. The global pandemic from COVID-19 poses a unique set of challenges not only for patients with cancer who need their treatment, but also for caregivers, oncologists, and the overall care team.

Treatment with an investigational targeted anti-cancer gene-therapy agent, VB-111, in addition to paclitaxel met the pre-specified efficacy criterion of an absolute percentage advantage of 10% or higher CA-125 response rate in patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer, according to results from the planned interim analysis of the phase III OVAL trial.<br /> &nbsp;

Angeles Alvarez Secord, MD, discusses the key takeaways on the role of PARP inhibitors in ovarian cancer, based on data presented for 3 PARP inhibitors, olaparib, rucaparib, and niraparib.

In an interview with&nbsp;Targeted Oncology, Kashyap Patel, MD, discussed the COVID-19 pandemic and the implementation of new precautions in his practice as the number of COVID-19 infected persons rises in the state.<br /> &nbsp;

Patients harboring IDH1/2 muta&shy;tions may receive benefit by the use of PARP inhibitors, with investigators initi&shy;ating clinical trials in patients across multiple different tumor types to determine the efficacy of this strategy.

Treatment with pembrolizumab demonstrated antitumor activity along with tolerable toxicity in patients with 4 different rare and hard-to-treat malignancies, according to results from a phase II study led by The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center researchers and published in the&nbsp;Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer.

GEN-1 immunotherapy demonstrated dose-dependent efficacy results in newly diagnosed patients with advanced epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer when treated in combination with the standard of care, according to results from the OVATION 2 study. Based on positive data in the phase I portion, the study is moving on to phase II with enrollment expected to begin in the second half of the year.

The FDA has accepted a Biologics License Application for MYL-1402O, a proposed biosimilar to bevacizumab, according to a press release from co-developers Biocon and Mylan. The BLA is seeking approval for the biosimilar as a treatment for multiple types of cancer and the FDA has set an action date goal of December 27, 2020, for a decision on the BLA.

As the new coronavirus disease 2019 creates problems internationally, health-wise and economically, it is also becoming a cause for concern throughout the oncology community.

In February 2020, the FDA gave indications to multiple therapies meant for treatment of solid tumor and hematologic malignancies. FDA action included 10 Priority Reviews, 2 Breakthrough Therapy designations, and 2 Fast Track designations.

Floor J. Backes, MD, discusses the immunotherapeutic options available for treatment of patients with ovarian cancer.

Updated results from the phase II arm of the DeCidE1 trial of DPX-Survivac demonstrated promising activity and tolerability in patients with heavily pretreated, advanced recurrent ovarian cancer, according to the developer of the agent IMV Inc.

To help clinicians cope with an increasing number of geriatric patients with cancer, the Association of Community Cancer Centers is addressing this problem with a 2-pronged approach that focuses on the delivery of care and diagnostic assessment.

An open, multicenter phase II trial of extend-release onapristone in patients with progesterone receptor&ndash;positive recurrent granulosa cell ovarian cancer, low-grade serous ovarian/primary peritoneal cancer, or endometroid endometrial cancer will demonstrate if the investigational drug will shrink or stop the cancer.

In January 2020, the FDA approved new treatment options in gastrointestinal stromal tumors, bladder cancer, and epithelioid sarcoma. The FDA also granted several Priority Review Designations, orphan drug designations, and a Fast Track designation, as well as a Breakthrough Therapy designation.

Continuous dosing of the MEK inhibitor binimetinib plus buparlisib, a PI3K inhibitor, demonstrated promising activity as treatment of patients with ovarian cancer harboring either a&nbsp;RAS&nbsp;or&nbsp;BRAF&nbsp;mutation, according to results from a phase Ib clinical trial.

Mira Hellmann, MD, discusses how the use of PARP inhibitors as treatment of patients with gynecologic cancers has evolved since they were first introduced into the treatment landscape up to studies evaluating these therapies today in a variety of patient populations, particularly in patients with ovarian cancer.

Myriad Genetics, Inc, has submitted a supplementary premarket approval application to the FDA for the myChoice CDx test for use in predicting outcomes for women with frontline platinum-responsive advanced ovarian cancer who are treated with niraparib, a PARP inhibitor, according to a press release from Myriad Genetics, Inc., the manufacturer of the test.

Antonio&nbsp;Gonzalez Mart&iacute;n, MD, discusses the results from the phase III PRIMA study, which evaluated the PARP inhibitor niraparib versus placebo as a frontline treatment of patients with newly diagnosed ovarian cancer who responded to platinum-based chemotherapy.

Integrating a geriatric assessment into the care of older adults who are receiving cancer treatment in communi&shy;ty oncology practices improves patient and caregiver satisfaction and encourages commu&shy;nication about aging-related concerns, accord&shy;ing to results of a clinical trial that enrolled 541 patients with advanced cancer.