Don S. Dizon, MD, FACP

Don S. Dizon, MD, FACP, Medical Gynecologic Oncologist, Director of the Oncology Sexual Health Clinic, Massachusetts General Hospital, gives an overview of screening for ovarian cancer.

There was recently a paper published in Lancet that looked at the Risk of Ovarian Cancer Algorithm (ROCA). ROCA represents a new way to look at CA125. Historically, CA125 was checked and a level above 35 U/mL was considered abnormal. ROCA uses every woman as her own control, so to speak, Dizon says, and looks at incremental changes rather than an absolute value of CA125.

A recent paper from MD Anderson also looked at ROCA and was very provocative, Dizon says, showing that CA125 could be used serially for women concerned about their ovarian cancer risk and could be generalized to all women.

Dizon anticipates the results from the United Kingdom Collaborative Trial of Ovarian Cancer Screening (UKCTOCS), which has the potential to change the standard of care.

ROCA uses CA125 in a new way, using every patient as her own control to look at incremental changes rather than an absolute number

Videos

An Overview of Ovarian Cancer Screening

Don S. Dizon, MD, FACP, Medical Gynecologic Oncologist, Director of the Oncology Sexual Health Clinic, Massachusetts General Hospital, gives an update on targeted therapies for the treatment of patients with ovarian cancer.

This is an area of intensive research, Dizon says. There is currently a movement being headed by the National Cancer Institute to design more clinical trials specifically looking at pathways.

Dizon says the role of angiogenesis inhibitors in ovarian cancer is being evaluated. Bevacizumab, a monoclonal antibody that inhibits angiogenesis, has the most mature data and has shown activity in the first line and recurrent setting in platinum-sensitive and platinum-resistant disease. However, the most appropriate setting for bevacizumab is still unknown, Dizon says.

AMG386 is currently in phase III testing in multiple settings and could further show that the vascular epidermal growth factor receptor pathway is important in gynecologic cancers.

There is currently a movement to design more trials looking at pathways in ovarian cancer

Bevacizumab has shown activity in the first line and recurrent setting

AMG386 is in phase III testing in multiple settings

Don S. Dizon, MD, FACP | Authors

Articles

An Overview of Ovarian Cancer Screening

An Update on Targeted Therapies in Ovarian Cancer