Ovarian Cancer

A phase II study found that the novel small-molecule inhibitor selumetinib is well tolerated and achieved an objective response in patients with low-grade serous carcinoma of the ovary or peritoneum.

Stuart Lichtman, MD, and William Tew, MD, from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, discuss personalizing treatment for elderly patients with ovarian cancer.

Lana Kandalaft, PharmD, MTR, PhD, from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, describes a study that examined a novel two-step immunotherapy for women with advanced ovarian cancer.

Jason A. Konner, MD, Gynecologic Medical Oncology Service, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, discusses the uncertain path of PARP inhibitors for the treatment of ovarian cancer.

The oral diabetic medication metformin may help improve survival in patients with ovarian cancer, according to the results of a retrospective case-control study.

Activation of a signaling pathway involving the proto-oncogene Src is responsible for disease progression and metastasis in cancer and beta blocker drugs could be used to reduce mortality in these patients.

A pair of studies could change the way patients are evaluated for mutations of BRCA1 and BRCA2, two cancer susceptibility genes closely associated with breast and ovarian cancers, as well as other tumor types.

New research has found that Papanicolaou smear tests that collect DNA in addition to providing a routine cytologic evaluation may be able to identify mutations associated with ovarian and endometrial cancers.

Researchers have identified the molecular basis behind two concepts in ovarian cancer that allow tumor stem cells to survive and proliferate even after treatment.

Although the association between VEGF and ovarian cancer has been known for quite some time, researchers are still struggling to use drugs that inhibit VEGF and angiogenesis in patients with the disease.

Cristi Radford, MS, CGC, from the Sarasota Memorial Hospital, discusses examining cancer gene panels using next generation sequencing for patients with ovarian cancer.

An exploratory analysis of the phase III AURELIA trial demonstrated that adding bevacizumab (Avastin) to chemotherapy in patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer benefited patients across treatment cohorts.

Interim data from a phase II clinical study of the dendritic cell vaccine CVac in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer showed promising signs of improving PFS compared with the observational standard of care.

Jason A. Konner, MD, from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, explains that one of the main drivers behind research into bevacizumab in ovarian cancer is to identify which patients will benefit the most from the treatment.

Maurie Markman, MD, from Cancer Treatment Centers of America, discusses the AURELIA trial that examined the addition of bevacizumab to chemotherapy for women with platinum-resistant recurrent ovarian cancer.

An exploratory analysis of the phase III AURELIA trial affirms the benefit of adding bevacizumab to chemotherapy for patients with platinum-resistant recurrent ovarian cancer.

A study evaluating first-line chemotherapy dosing strategies for treating patients with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer has delivered practice-changing findings.

Erlotinib given as a maintenance therapy did not improve PFS or OS in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer who had received first-line platinum-based chemotherapy.

While ovarian cancer survival rates have improved slightly since the 1970s, the overall five-year survival for patients diagnosed with the tumor type lags behind the average rate of all cancers.

Dr. Robert Bast, from the MD Anderson Cancer Center, Discusses New Biomarker Panels for Ovarian Cancer Screening.

A modified intraperitoneal (IP) regimen for advanced ovarian cancer demonstrated feasibility, tolerability, and evidence of effectiveness, results of a small pilot study suggest.

Recent clinical and economic studies have suggested that ovarian cancer regimens containing bevacizumab could fall within the boundaries of cost-effectiveness, at least for some patients.

A chronic shortage of the most commonly used taxane for ovarian cancer would add almost $9 million a month to the cost of care if half of newly diagnosed cases were affected.

Dr. Eric Pujade-Lauraine, from Université de Paris Descartes, France, on the AURELIA Bevacizumab Trial for Platinum-Resistant Ovarian Cancer.

Combining bevacizumab with standard chemotherapy reduced the risk of disease progression by 52% in patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer.

Dr. Nancy Davidson, from the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, on Screening for Ovarian Cancer

Detecting hereditary cancer and providing genetic counseling can help prevent a new primary cancer and may also help to protect family members from developing cancer.

At this year's annual NCCN conference, the organization presented updates in 13 areas, including specific disease states and general screening methods.

Understanding the genetic basis of breast and ovarian cancers is essential to providing patients with effective preventive and/or management strategies that can improve outcomes.

Despite initial disappointing findings on overall survival, PARP inhibitors remains under active investigation for patients with ovarian cancer.