Precision Medicine Guiding Ovarian Cancer Treatment

In season 1, episode 2 of Targeted Talks, community physician Sarah M. Temkin, MD, a gynecologic oncologist at the Anne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis, Maryland, leads a discussion with Daphne B. Stewart, MD, a medical oncologist and associate clinical professor at the City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, in Duarte, California, around targeted therapies in ovarian cancer, whether offered in the academic or community setting.

The discussion covers the traditional methods for the frontline treatment of patients with recurrent ovarian cancer and how such methods compare with previous strategies and more modern strategies. Temkin and Stewart also touch upon the role of upfront genomic testing to provide precision medicine approaches to patients with germline or somatic BRCA mutations, as well as those with homologous recombination deficiency. Although access to testing has improved over the years, they say, there are still barriers to getting access to testing for both germline and somatic mutations. The understanding of the necessity of dual testing and the results for homologous recombination deficiency testing also needs to be expanded, Stewart suggests.

As a conclusion to the topic, the experts review clinical trial research on single agents used for the treatment of patients in this population, in addition to combination therapies, and the management of toxicities from these treatment options.