Dr. Coleman on Recent Advances and Remaining Questions in Ovarian Cancer

Robert L. Coleman, MD, FACOG, FACS, chief scientific officer, The US Oncology Network, discusses recent advances made in the treatment of patients with ovarian cancer and remaining questions regarding the role of immunotherapy.

Investigators are still trying to determine where immunotherapy fits best within the ovarian cancer treatment paradigm, says Coleman. The approach most likely has a role, but that role has yet to be determined. At the 2020 SGO Annual Meeting, the results of the phase 3 JAVELIN Ovarian 100 study were presented, which examined the use of avelumab (Bavencio) in combination with and/or following chemotherapy in patients with previously untreated epithelial ovarian cancer. The trial failed to meet its primary end point of improved progression-free survival in either arm. The field is still trying to figure out exactly where all those assets fit but it is very exciting because now more options are available, Coleman adds.

In April 2020, the FDA recently approved niraparib (Zejula) for the maintenance treatment of adult patients with advanced epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer who are in a complete or partial response to first-line platinum-based chemotherapy, regardless of biomarker status. This approval shows that the field is now expanding its reach of using targeted therapies in a much broader audience of patients, concludes Coleman.