GYNECOLOGIC CANCERS

A team of scientists at Lawson Health Research Institute recently discovered that ovarian cancer spheroids activate a stress metabolism molecule, LKB1, which is crucial for the survival of ovarian cancer cells.

According to findings from a phase II study released by Amgen, monotherapy with blinatumomab (Blincyto) showed promising complete remission (CR) or CR with partial hematological recovery (CRh) rates in adult patients with relapsed or refractory Philadelphia chromosome-positive (Ph+) B cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

The immunotherapy DPX-Survivac has been granted orphan drug designation as treatment ovarian cancer, based on early-phase research showing a robust immune response with the therapy in combination with low-dose cyclophosphamide.

Specific areas in the US may be at health risk due to limited access of specialized gynecologic cancer care.

Research may hasten the effort to determine which strains of cancer will eventually become resistant to chemotherapy, paving the way for developing more effective targeted treatments.

The cancer drug, FY26, has demonstrated high potency and efficacy compared with cisplatin and other platinum-based chemotherapies

Jeffrey Infante, MD, director, Drug Development Program, Sarah Cannon Research Institute, discusses a phase Ib, open-label expansion trial examining avelumab for the treatment of patients with previously treated, recurrent or refractory ovarian cancer.

Gynecologic Cancers

A team at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York that is studying ovarian cancer has not only discovered another mechanism by which tumors evade attack by the immune system, but is also devising a first-in-class potential treatment.

The glycoprotein CD31 was associated with improvements in overall survival and progression-free survival for patients with advanced ovarian cancer treated with frontline bevacizumab.

Robert L. Coleman, MD, FACOG, FACS, professor, Ann Rife Cox Chair in Gynecology, Department of Gynecologic Oncology and Reproductive Medicine, vice chair, Clinical Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses the results of the ARIEL2 trial, a phase II study to identify patients with ovarian cancer likely to respond to rucaparib using tumor genetic analysis.

Rucaparib showed an overall response rate of 82% among a cohort of patients with BRCA-mutated ovarian cancer in the phase II ARIEL2 study.

Patients with pretreated advanced ovarian cancer demonstrated encouraging signs of antitumor activity with monoclonal antibodies against programmed death-1 and its ligand PD-L1, according to findings from two clinical studies presented at the 2015 ASCO Annual Meeting.