Ovarian cancer treatment has been rejuvenated in recent years by the introduction of the PARP inhibitors, starting in relapsed disease for patients with BRCA mutations. Now, sponsors are tackling ovarian cancer in earlier stages with the goal of boosting initial remissions.
The pace of research in ovarian cancer has accelerated in the past few years – moving beyond BRCA and beyond monotherapy toward earlier lines of disease and "smart combinations," in a bid to change the stark fact that 14,000 women die of the disease every year in the US,
Current Treatment Options
In addition to mainstay treatment with platinum-based chemotherapy, three PARP inhibitors are approved as monotherapy second-line maintenance treatments for recurrent ovarian cancer that is still responsive to platinum-based chemotherapy – AstraZeneca/Merck's Lynparza, Clovis' Rubraca and Tesaro's Zejula.
Roche's VEGF inhibitor Avastin gained a new indication for use with chemotherapy in first-line Stage III/IV ovarian cancer in June, having already been approved as a maintenance therapy in recurrent platinum-sensitive disease. (Also see "