Dr. Matulonis on the Current Treatment Landscape in Ovarian Cancer

Ursula A. Matulonis, MD, professor of medicine, Harvard Medical School, medical oncologist, chief of the Division of Gynecologic Oncology, Susan F. Smith Center for Women's Cancers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses the current treatment landscape in ovarian cancer.

Recently, there has been a lot of activity in the newly diagnosed ovarian cancer space, says Matulonis. ​On April 29, 2020, the PARP inhibitor niraparib (Zejula) received FDA approval as frontline maintenance treatment for women with advanced ovarian cancer who are in complete or partial response (PR) to first-line platinum-based chemotherapy. Additionally, on May 8, 2020, data from the PAOLA-1 trial ​led to the FDA approval of olaparib (Lynparza) in combination with bevacizumab (Avastin) as frontline maintenance treatment for women with advanced ovarian cancer who are in complete or PR to first-line platinum-based chemotherapy and whose cancer is associated with homologous recombination deficiency–positive status.

In the recurrent setting, novel treatment strategies are currently under investigation. However, whether these strategies ​will affect progression-free survival, overall survival, and safety remain unanswered, Matulonis concludes.