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OVARIAN CANCER IN 2018

Advances in prediction for ovarian cancer treatment stratification

Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology volume 16, pages 75–76 (2019)Cite this article

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Breakthrough findings reported in 2018 provide the foundations for paradigm shifts in the care of patients with ovarian cancer. These results have implications for treatment in the first-line setting (with improved and refined use of established treatment modalities), firmly introduce concepts of consolidation and maintenance therapy, and enable more accurate prediction of drug sensitivity and resistance.

Key advances

  • Advances in ovarian cancer treatment with interval surgery followed by hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy and re-definition of the value of secondary surgery pave the way to improve outcomes using established therapies2,3.

  • Findings from the SOLO1 trial demonstrated a substantial improvement in progression-free survival in women with BRCA1/2 mutations using maintenance olaparib following initial platinum-based chemotherapy5.

  • Translational findings demonstrated the importance of testing tissues before therapy, potentially including identification of copy number variation signatures or BRCA1 methlyation, which might improve the integration of predictive biomarkers for ovarian cancer therapy8,9.

Introducing evidence-based stratified therapy for epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) has been challenging, although important progress has been made particularly with poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors for women with BRCA1/2 mutations or homologous DNA repair deficiencies and with anti-angiogenics, particularly bevacizumab, for those with residual disease following upfront surgery, in the concurrent and maintenance settings. Results reported this year herald several highly anticipated breakthroughs, which should set the stage for changes to the paradigms of care and enable thoughtful refinement of dynamic or pattern-based treatment algorithms.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network and Mount Sinai Hospital University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    Amit M. Oza

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  1. Amit M. Oza
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Correspondence to Amit M. Oza.

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The author declares no competing interests.

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Oza, A.M. Advances in prediction for ovarian cancer treatment stratification. Nat Rev Clin Oncol 16, 75–76 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41571-018-0147-3

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