Dr. Konecny on the Use of PARP Inhibitors in Patients With Ovarian Cancer

Gottfried E. Konecny, MD, associate professor of medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, discusses the use of PARP inhibitors in the treatment of patients with ovarian cancer.

Although PARP inhibitors are currently being used as upfront treatments, Konecny says they can be used in the maintenance setting as well. Physicians know that PARP inhibitors correlate to platinum sensitivity. Patients who respond well to a platinum-based agent respond well to PARP inhibitors, and that, says Konecny, set the stage to explore PARP inhibitors as a maintenance agent.

Maintenance therapy is especially important for patients with ovarian cancer because it has a pattern of frequent recurrence. Progression-free intervals between treatments tend to get shorter and shorter, notes Konecny. A typical patient with platinum-sensitivity may do well for 2 years and then suffer a recurrence. It’s often the case that the subsequent recurrence will occur within a shorter time frame. Extending this progression-free survival has become an important objective, and 3 international studies have confirmed the value of adding a PARP inhibitor after achieving a complete or partial response to chemotherapy.