Dr. Markman on Targets for the Treatment of Ovarian Cancer

Maurie Markman, MD, senior vice president for Clinical Affairs and National Director for Medical Oncology, Cancer Treatment Centers of America, Eastern Regional Medical Center, discusses the discovery of mutations and targets in ovarian cancer and the current progress being made in the development of a "breakthrough" agent for ovarian cancer.

The Cancer Genome Atlas has characterized multiple mutations in advanced ovarian cancer, explains Markman. However, at this time, it is difficult to know which approach for treating these mutations will be the most effective.

Currently, outside of BRCA and antiangiogenesis, there is not a single approach that has demonstrated extended efficacy in ovarian cancer. However, important signatures have emerged, such as p53 and PI3k, Markman notes. At this point, drugs that target these signatures in ovarian cancer are yet to be discovered. Despite this, it only remains a matter of time, Markman believes, until a breakthrough agent is found to treat ovarian cancer.