Diaz on the Impact of Antibody-Drug Conjugates in Ovarian Cancer

John Diaz, MD, the chief of Gynecologic Oncology, lead physician for Clinical Trials in Gynecologic Oncology at MCI, and chief of the Center of Excellence in Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery, Baptist Health South Florida, discusses some known biomarkers in ovarian cancer and where he hopes to see more research in the future.

Specifically, Diaz notes the excitement that antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) have brought to this space. Two ADCs have already been approved by the FDA for the treatment of gynecologic cancers, including ovarian cancer and cervical cancer. These ADCs are mirvetuximab soravtansine-gynx (Elahere) and upifitamab rilsodotin (XMT-153), and both have provided impressive results for patients with ovarian cancer.

While targeted therapies continue to be developed for this patient population, Diaz notes that further research is always needed. Other ADCs are currently in the pipeline and next, experts must delve into how best to use these targeted therapies to improve patient outcomes and increase understanding.

Transcription:

0:10 | One of the exciting advances that we have seen in cancer, in particular in gynecologic cancers, is the utilization of antibody-drug conjugates. When I talk to my patients about these drugs, I use the analogy of thinking of them as a Trojan horse. They have now been utilized for both ovarian cancer and cervical cancer, and we have 2 FDA-approved antibody-drug conjugates for the treatment of gynecologic malignancies. One of the targets are these folate receptor agonists. So we have seen 2 that are FDA-approved, and there are several more in the pipeline.

0:42 | It is exciting to see that we have these targeted therapies. We are going to start to have to understand how we use these treatments in patients who have already been exposed to folate receptors. Then, we have to identify additional receptors that we can utilize for these targeted treatments.