The positive findings from the NOVEL trial add to the debate about how intravenous (IV) chemotherapy stacks up against intraperitoneal (IP) chemotherapy when treating ovarian cancer and the role of dose-dense approaches in general, according to Jonathan S. Berek, MD, of the Stanford Women’s Cancer Center, Stanford, California.

A host of ongoing trials—GOG0252, GOG0262, ICON8, MITO 7, and iPOCC—are sorting out the impact of the route of administration and specific drugs, in addition to dose-dense strategies. “In the next 2 to 3 years, we are going to start to see mature data that will help us decide what’s best for our patients,” he predicted.

“What should we do now for our patients? I think you have to individualize,” Dr. Berek recommended. “I have been doing IP therapy for several decades…, but certainly giving a dose-dense regimen is a lot easier than maintaining intraperitoneal catheters.”