Dr. Matulonis Discusses Rationale of QUADRA Trial

Ursula A. Matulonis, MD, professor of medicine, Harvard Medical School, chief, Division of Gynecological Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses the rationale behind the QUADRA trial for patients with relapsed ovarian cancer. Data from the study were presented at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting.

QUADRA was a phase II, single-arm study that evaluated niraparib (Zejula), an oral PARP inhibitor, in patients with relapsed disease who had received >3 prior chemotherapy regimens. Investigators of the study were looking to expand the use of niraparib into patient populations beyond the FDA-approved indication. In patients with homologous recombination deficiency positivity, niraparib led to an objective response rate (ORR) of 29%; the ORR in patients with BRCA mutations was 31%.

In March 2017, the FDA approved niraparib for maintenance therapy of adult patients with epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer who are in complete or partial response to platinum-based chemotherapy.