Dr. Sabbatini on Promising Therapies in Newly Diagnosed Ovarian Cancer

Paul Sabbatini, MD, deputy physician-in-chief for clinical research, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses promising therapies in newly diagnosed ovarian cancer.

Immunotherapy has the most potential in this space, Sabbatini says, but it is also the treatment strategy that researchers need to better understand. It is possible that patients with ovarian cancer can be made more susceptible to responding to immunotherapy, but this is still ongoing research. The field has to look beyond single-agent checkpoint inhibitors and toward the potential for combination strategies to turn “cold” tumors into “hot” tumors.

In addition, it is known that PARP inhibitors have transformed the way oncologists approach ovarian cancer, but it is still unknown how to extend their reach. Sabbatini says the field should have data pretty soon about where these drugs fit in and who they work in. Currently, niraparib (Zejula), olaparib (Lynparza), and rucaparib (Rubraca) are FDA-approved as maintenance therapy for patients who have achieved a complete or partial response to platinum-based chemotherapy.