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Gynecologic Cancers

Olaparib Maintenance in Ovarian Cancer: Outcomes Reconsidered

An article that appeared in the April 10 issue of The ASCO Post (“Olaparib Maintenance Prolongs Progression-Free Survival in Ovarian Cancer”) suggests unwarranted conclusions from the phase III SOLO2 trial of olaparib (Lynparza) in patients with platinum-sensitive relapsed ovarian cancer and...

Gynecologic Cancers

Expert Point of View: Jonathan Ledermann, MD

Invited discussant Jonathan Ledermann, MD, of UCL Cancer Institute, University College London, said the ARIEL2 results for rucaparib (Rubraca) add to the evidence base for PARP (poly ADP-ribose polymerase) inhibition in ovarian cancer established by olaparib (Lynparza). It’s been about 2 years...

Gynecologic Cancers

Rucaparib Leads to Frequent Durable Remissions in BRCA-Mutated Relapsed Ovarian Cancer

Rucaparib (Rubraca) led to frequent durable remissions among patients with relapsed high-grade ovarian cancer with BRCA mutations, regardless of whether the mutations were germline or somatic, according to the results of the ARIEL2 trial presented at the 2017 Society of Gynecologic Oncology Annual...

Gynecologic Cancers

FDA Approves Maintenance Niraparib for Recurrent Epithelial Ovarian, Fallopian Tube, or Primary Peritoneal Cancer

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved niraparib (Zejula) for the maintenance treatment of adult patients with recurrent epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer, whose tumors have achieved complete or partial response to platinum-based ­chemotherapy....

Gynecologic Cancers

Expert Point of View: Al Covens, MD

Al Covens, MD, Professor and Chair of Gynecologic Oncology at the University of Toronto, and Head of Gynecologic Oncology at Sunnybrook Health Science Centre, commented on the phase II findings of axalimogene filolisbac: “As almost all cervical cancers are human papillomavirus (HPV)-related, this...

Gynecologic Cancers

Listeria-Based Immunotherapy Improves Survival in Metastatic Cervical Cancer

Overall survival in recurrent, metastatic cervical cancer was substantially extended with a Listeria-based immunotherapy approach that targets the human papillomavirus (HPV), investigators reported at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology Annual Meeting.1 Of 50 evaluable patients, 19 were alive at...

Gynecologic Cancers

Expert Point of View: Eloise Chapman-Davis, MD

Eloise Chapman-Davis, MD, a gynecologic oncologist at New York-Presbyterian and Weill Cornell Medicine, commented on the SOLO2 trial results for The ASCO Post. “SOLO2 is the third randomized trial to evaluate the use of maintenance therapy in a selected subgroup of ovarian cancer patients with...

Gynecologic Cancers

Olaparib Maintenance Prolongs Progression-Free Survival in Ovarian Cancer

Maintenance therapy with the tablet formulation of olaparib (Lynparza) significantly prolonged progression-free survival in patients with platinum-sensitive relapsed ovarian cancer and mutations in BRCA1/2 in the phase III SOLO2 trial, presented at the 2017 Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO)...

gynecologic cancers

Christina S. Chu, MD, on HPV and Cervical/Vulvar Cancer

Christina S. Chu, MD, of Fox Chase Cancer Center, discusses the link between human papillomavirus and genital cancers and what is known about the effect of HPV on treatment response and outcome.

Gynecologic Cancers

Expert Point of View: Heather L. McArthur, MD, MPH

Study discussant Heather L. McArthur, MD, MPH, Medical Director of Breast Oncology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, noted that human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination has been shown to prevent HPV-related malignancies and eradicate high-grade, HPV16-positive premalignant lesions....

Gynecologic Cancers

Early-Phase Study of HPV Type 16–Directed Vaccine Combined With Chemotherapy in Advanced Cervical Cancer

When combined with chemotherapy, a vaccine against the human papillomavirus (HPV) type 16 potentiated T-cell responsiveness and improved clinical outcomes in patients with advanced cervical cancer enrolled in the phase I/II CervISA study.1 The findings were reported at the 2017 ASCO-SITC Clinical...

Gynecologic Cancers

Expect Questions About the Cervical Cancer Mortality Study

A widely reported study found that cervical cancer mortality was higher and the racial disparity between black and white women greater than previously reported.1 The study omitted from the mortality estimates those women who had undergone hysterectomies, usually involving removal of the cervix....

Gynecologic Cancers

Cervical Cancer Mortality Is Higher and Racial Disparity Wider Than Previously Reported

Cervical cancer mortality rates were significantly higher, particularly among black women, when national data were corrected to exclude women who have had hysterectomies. For black women, the cervical cancer mortality rate rose from 5.7 to 10.1 per 100,000 when corrected for hysterectomy, an...

Gynecologic Cancers

Mirvetuximab Soravtansine in Platinum-Sensitive Ovarian Cancer

Kathleen N. Moore, MD, of Stephenson Cancer Center, The University of Oklahoma, and colleagues found that mirvetuximab soravtansine (also known as IMGN853)—an antibody-drug conjugate targeting folate receptor alpha (FRα)—is active in FRα-positive platinum-resistant ovarian cancer, according to a...

Gynecologic Cancers

Rucaparib in Relapsed Platinum-Sensitive High-Grade Ovarian Cancer

In part 1 of the phase II ARIEL2 trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Elizabeth M. Swisher, MD, of the University of Washington, and colleagues found that the poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor rucaparib was associated with prolonged progression-free survival among patients with...

Gynecologic Cancers

Clinical Trials Actively Recruiting Patients With Gynecologic Cancers

Phase I Study Title: Phase I Study to Determine the Effects of Mesenchymal Stem Cells Secreting Interferon Beta in Patients With Advanced Ovarian Cancer Study Type: Phase I/interventional/single-group assignment Study Sponsor and Collaborators: MD Anderson Cancer Center Purpose: To find the...

Gynecologic Cancers

Rucaparib in Previously Treated BRCA Mutation–Associated Ovarian Cancer

On December 19, 2016, rucaparib (Rubraca) was granted accelerated approval for the treatment of patients with deleterious BRCA mutation–associated (germline or somatic) advanced ovarian cancer who have received two or more prior chemotherapy regimens.1,2 The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ...

Gynecologic Cancers

An Ovarian Cancer Survivor’s Story

Ovarian cancer, the deadliest of gynecologic cancers, is usually diagnosed after the disease has spread. Susan Evans was a secondary English and remedial reading teacher for 32 years in Bradford, Pennsylvania. She was on several advisory boards and was recognized by the Pennsylvania Senate and...

Gynecologic Cancers

PARP Inhibitor Niraparib Yields ‘Unprecedented’ Results in Ovarian Cancer in Phase III Trial

The first phase III trial of an inhibitor of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) yielded unprecedented results in treating ovarian cancer. The trial was presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) in Copenhagen, Denmark, and electronically reported concurrently in The New England ...

Gynecologic Cancers

Niraparib Maintenance Improves Progression-Free Survival in Platinum-Sensitive Recurrent Ovarian Cancer

In a phase III trial (ENGOT-OV16/NOVA) reported at the 2016 ESMO (European Society for Medical Oncology) Congress and in The New England Journal of Medicine by Mansoor R. ­Mirza, MD, of the Rigshospitalet–Copenhagen University Hospital, and colleagues, maintenance therapy with the PARP (poly...

Gynecologic Cancers

Maintenance Olaparib in Platinum-Sensitive Recurrent Serous Ovarian Cancer With BRCA Mutation

Maintenance olaparib (Lynparza) appeared to be associated with an overall survival benefit vs placebo in women with platinum-sensitive serous ovarian cancer and BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations, according to an updated analysis of a phase II trial reported in The Lancet Oncology by Jonathan A. Ledermann,...

Gynecologic Cancers

Elizabeth M. Swisher, MD, Finds Juggling Research Projects and Clinical Care Improves Both

Elizabeth M. Swisher, MD, Medical Director of the Breast and Ovarian Cancer Prevention Program at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, enjoys developing long-term patient relationships and helping patients who are confronted with cancer and terminal issues. She is particularly interested in the...

Gynecologic Cancers

Making Peace With Cancer

Next to me sounds the buzzing of my Lympha Press machine, which substitutes for the constant visits of the physiotherapist who performs the lymph drainage. This gives me more freedom, and we have more privacy at home. I can use the machine whenever I need it, and my 5-year-old daughter, Christina, ...

Gynecologic Cancers

‘Breakthrough’ in Recurrent Ovarian Cancer: Niraparib Extends Progression-Free Survival in Platinum-Sensitive Disease

A landmark study showed that the investigational PARP (poly ADP-ribose polymerase) 1/2 inhibitor niraparib, when used as maintenance therapy, significantly improves the outcome of platinum-sensitive recurrent ovarian cancer. Specifically, niraparib significantly prolonged progression-free survival ...

Gynecologic Cancers

Key Guideline Recommendations

Human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA testing is recommended in all resource settings; visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA) may be used in the basic setting as a “stepping stone” that helps build health service capacity until HPV testing becomes available. Although cotesting with HPV and Papanicolaou...

Gynecologic Cancers

ASCO Issues Global Recommendations to Increase Cervical Cancer Screening

Earlier this month, ASCO issued a new global guideline on screening for cervical cancer.1 The guideline provides evidence-based recommendations for screening, follow-up of positive screening results, and treatment of women with cervical precancers in countries worldwide.  ASCO’s guideline...

Gynecologic Cancers

What We Know and What We Need to Know About Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in Advanced Ovarian Cancer

Ever since the landmark studies of Griffiths and colleagues in the 1970s,1 primary cytoreductive surgery followed by chemotherapy with the objective of achieving minimal residual disease has been the standard approach for women with advanced-stage epithelial ovarian cancer. However, what is...

Gynecologic Cancers

SGO and ASCO Clinical Practice Guideline on Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy for Newly Diagnosed Advanced Ovarian Cancer

As reported by Alexi A. Wright, MD, MPH, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and colleagues in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, ASCO and the Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) have released a clinical practice guideline on neoadjuvant therapy for patients with newly diagnosed stage IIIC or IV...

gynecologic cancers

Mansoor Raza Mirza, MD, on Ovarian Cancer: Results From the ENGOT-OV16/NOVA Trial

Mansoor Raza Mirza, MD, of Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital, discusses phase III study findings on maintenance therapy with niraparib vs placebo in patients with platinum-sensitive recurrent ovarian cancer. (Abstract LBA3)

gynecologic cancers

Susana N. Banerjee, MBBS, PhD, on Ovarian Cancer: Results of the CORAL Trial

Susana N. Banerjee, PhD, MBBS, of The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, discusses phase II findings on abiraterone in patients with recurrent epithelial ovarian cancer. (Abstract LBA33)

gynecologic cancers

Jung-min Lee, MD, on Ovarian Cancer: Study Results on Checkpoint Kinase Inhibitors

Jung-min Lee, MD, of the National Cancer Institute, discusses findings of a phase II study of the cell cycle checkpoint kinase inhibitors LY2606368 and prexasertib monomesylate monohydrate in sporadic high-grade serous and germline BRCA mutation-associated ovarian cancer. (Abstract 855O)

Gynecologic Cancers

Risk of Serous/Serous-like Endometrial Carcinoma After RRSO in Women With BRCA1 Mutation

In a prospective cohort study reported in JAMA Oncology, Shu et al found that risk for serous/serous-like endometrial carcinoma appeared to be increased after risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy (RRSO) without hysterectomy in women harboring the BRCA1 mutation. The overall risk of uterine cancer...

Gynecologic Cancers

Expect Questions About the FDA Discouraging Use of Ovarian Cancer Screening Tests

The release of a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Safety Communication “alerting women about the risks associated with the use of tests being marketed as ovarian cancer screening tests”1 and recommending against using these tests comes not as a result of startling new studies, but from an...

Gynecologic Cancers
Issues in Oncology

The FDA Urges Physicians and Patients to Forgo Ovarian Cancer Screening Tests

In a Safety Communication directed at women and physicians, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) alerted women “about the risks associated with the use of tests being marketed as ovarian cancer screening tests” and recommended “against using currently offered tests to screen for ovarian...

Gynecologic Cancers

An Ovarian Cancer Expert’s Guide Offers Insight, Wisdom, and Hope

There have been numerous books explicating the information a physician or patient needs to know about our current clinical state in the diagnosis and treatment of ovarian cancer. Many of them are good, but rare is a well-written book in the cancer genre that offers solid scientific hope exceeding ...

Gynecologic Cancers

An Oncologist Battles a Preventable Epidemic: Cancer of the Cervix

Cervical cancer incidence and mortality rates—perhaps more than any other chronic disease—shine a grim spotlight on global disparities of care. It is one of the most preventable of human malignancies, yet it is the leading cause of cancer deaths in women around the world. It kills 260,000 women...

Gynecologic Cancers

Study Shows Women Who Received Cancer Screening Invitation Letters Are More Likely to Have a Pap Test

Receiving an invitation to undergo screening for cervical cancer is associated with a greater likelihood of getting screened, according to a study published by Tavasoli et al in Preventive Medicine.1 The study explored the impact of invitation and reminder letters on cervical cancer screening...

Gynecologic Cancers

Adding Pertuzumab to Chemotherapy in Platinum-Resistant Ovarian Cancer

According to the European phase III PENELOPE trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Christian Kurzeder, MD, of Kliniken Essen-Mitte, Essen, Germany, et al found that adding pertuzumab (Perjeta) to investigator’s choice chemotherapy did not improve progression-free survival in women...

Gynecologic Cancers
Lymphoma

I’m the Luckiest Person in the World

July 2009 was the start of the worst 5-year period of my life, and I’m just grateful I am still here to tell you about it. I was preparing for brain surgery to remove an acoustic neuroma on the right side of my brain when I noticed a lump on my left thigh. Thinking I had pulled a muscle while...

Gynecologic Cancers

FDA Approves First HPV Test for Use With SurePath Preservative Fluid

On July 7, 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the Roche cobas HPV Test as the first test for human papillomavirus (HPV) that can be used with cervical cells obtained for a Papanicolau (Pap) test and collected in SurePath Preservative Fluid. The FDA approves HPV tests to be...

Gynecologic Cancers

Benefit Strongly Suggested With Hormonal Maintenance in Low-Grade Serous Carcinoma

In patients with low-grade serous carcinoma, maintenance hormonal therapy reduced the risk of recurrence by 77%, compared with surveillance, in a retrospective cohort from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. The study was reported by David Marc Gershenson, MD, at the 2016 ASCO...

Gynecologic Cancers

Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy May Render Advanced Ovarian Cancers Responsive to Immunotherapy

Although most patients with advanced ovarian cancer initially respond to platinum-based chemotherapy, they usually relapse. According to a study by Frances R. Balkwill, PhD, Professor of Cancer Biology at Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, United Kingdom, and colleagues...

Gynecologic Cancers

Cervical Cancer Prevention Badly Needed in India

With the advent of the Papanicolaou (Pap) test and population-based screening, along with the development of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, cervical cancer has become a largely preventable disease for many. However, in India, cervical cancer is a leading cause of cancer mortality. To...

Gynecologic Cancers

In the Neoadjuvant Era, Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy Is of Benefit in Advanced Ovarian Cancer

The role of intraperitoneal (IP) chemotherapy in the treatment of advanced ovarian cancer has been debated for a long time. According to a new study presented at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting, a combination of IP and intravenous (IV) chemotherapy appears more effective than IV chemotherapy alone in...

Gynecologic Cancers

Ronald David Alvarez, MD, Named Chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Ronald David Alvarez, MD, Ellen Gregg Shook Culverhouse Chair in the Division of Gynecologic Oncology and Vice Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), has been named Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Vanderbilt...

breast cancer
gynecologic cancers

Lisa A. Carey, MD, and Tuya Pal, MD, on BRCA Carriers: The Disparities in Management

Lisa A. Carey, MD, of the University of North Carolina, and Tuya Pal, MD, of H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute, discuss the racial disparities in cancer risk management among BRCA carriers across a diverse sample of young black, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic white breast cancer survivors (Abstract LBA1504).

gynecologic cancers

Jonathan A. Ledermann, MD, and Ursula A. Matulonis, MD, on Olaparib Maintenance Monotherapy for Ovarian Cancer

Jonathan A. Ledermann, MD, of Cancer Research UK and University College London Cancer Trials Centre, and Ursula A. Matulonis, MD, of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discuss findings on overall survival in patients with platinum-sensitive relapsed serous ovarian cancer receiving olaparib maintenance monotherapy (Abstract 5501).

gynecologic cancers

Helen MacKay, MD, and Ursula A. Matulonis, MD, on Epithelial Ovarian Cancer: Results From the OV21-PETROC Trial

Helen MacKay, MD, of the Sunnybrook Odette Cancer Centre, and Ursula A. Matulonis, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discuss findings from this phase II study of intraperitoneal vs intravenous chemotherapy following neoadjuvant chemotherapy and optimal debulking surgery in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer (Abstract LBA5503).

gynecologic cancers

Eric Roeland, MD, and Linda Van Le, MD, on Gynecologic Cancers: Managing Menopausal Symptoms in Survivors

Eric Roeland, MD, of the University of California, San Diego, and Linda Van Le, MD, of the University of North Carolina discuss ways to manage symptoms that affect up to 80% of postmenopausal women, diminishing their quality of life.

gynecologic cancers

Helen MacKay, MD, on Epithelial Ovarian Cancer: Results From the OV21/PETROC Trial

Helen MacKay, MD, of the Sunnybrook Odette Cancer Centre, discusses findings from this phase II study of intraperitoneal vs intravenous chemotherapy following neoadjuvant chemotherapy and optimal debulking surgery in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer (Abstract LBA5503).

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