GYNECOLOGIC CANCERS

According to study findings presented during the 49th Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancers held in New Orleans March 24-27, clinical benefit has been found for women with recurrent ovarian cancer when using immune checkpoint inhibitors, but there was a higher rate of adverse events (AEs) than previously reported in other tumor types.

Michael Birrer, MD, PhD, professor of medicine in the Division of Hematology-Oncology, and Director of the Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, discusses current data on predicting response to PARP inhibitor therapy in ovarian cancer.

Kidney Cancer

Lung Cancer

The use of immunotherapy agents for the treatment of gynecologic cancers is currently a hot topic in the field, with various clinical trials ongoing. The success of PARP inhibitors has also exploded over the past year, translating to improvements in progression-free survival and quality of life for some patients, says Erin K. Crane, MPH, MD.

The FDA has placed a clinical hold on a phase I/II study of axalimogene filolisbac and durvalumab, according to an announcement by Advaxis, the manufacturer of axalimogene filolisbac, in a quarterly earnings report.The study is evaluating the combination in patients with advanced, recurrent or refractory HPV-associated cervical cancer and HPV-associated head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Pembrolizumab (Keytruda) has been granted a priority review by the FDA for the treatment of advanced cervical cancer with disease progression on or after chemotherapy.

David O'Malley, MD, discusses the excitement surrounding PARP inhibitors for patients with ovarian cancer.

In an 8 to 4 vote, the FDA's Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee recommended approval of blinatumomab for the treatment of minimal residual disease-positive B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia.